Get excited Cardinals, Preservation Week is April 27th to May 3rd this year! Preservation Week highlights preservation techniques and practices libraries and museums use for their respective collections. This year’s theme is Preserve the Past, Shape the Future: Inspiring the Next Generation. This celebration encourages the public to consider the importance of preservation and how they can preserve their own documents and family history. For those who have not considered preservation practices before, the American Library Association and other organizations are offering webinars on preservation practices and principles. Preservation Week is a great chance to learn something new!  

What is Preservation Week?

Preservation Week, first held in 2010, was created by the American Library Association’s Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures. Core established Preservation Week to draw attention to the methods for preserving various types of media including books, photographs and digital material. According to ALA, libraries and museums hold approximately 630 million items in need of proper preservation techniques. However, many of these institutions lack the monetary support and staffing to support preservation projects (Core, 2025). By highlighting preservation practices, the ALA and their partner institutions hope to encourage libraries to adopt better standards and policies that balance financial and preservation concerns. Core is sponsoring free webinars on practical preservation policies. Institutions interested in participating are encouraged to host their own preservation workshops and activities (Core, 2025). Essentially, Preservation Week provides opportunities to learn more about how libraries and museums preserve material for future generations.

Preservation Practices

Preservation is not just for libraries. You can and should implement preservation practices with your personal documents. To get everyone in the preservation mood, here are some general guidelines from the American Institute for Conservation for persevering different types of media:

• Books: Books should be stored upright on a shelf, supported by either a neighboring book or a bookend. They should be kept in a dry temperate room with low humidity. When handling, cradle the books with clean, dry hands. Never place a book open flat against a table or floor. 
• Photographs: Physical photographs should be kept in a low humidity environment with a consistent temperature around 68 degrees. Photos should be kept in either plastic or paper sleeves devoid of harmful chemicals and substances. 
• Videotapes: VCR and other tape formats can degrade over time if not handled properly. Video tapes should be kept in a cool location. Store video tapes vertically in a row rather than horizontally. Remember to rewinding videotapes after use and keep the tape rolled up and unexposed.
  

Two overall rules to follow regardless of the format you are working to preserve: 1) store the material in cool and dry conditions with low humidity and 2) arrange storage in a manner which doesn’t put pressure or wear and tear on the material. By addressing these issues with your own private material, you can help keep these works safe for further use or access. 

Disaster Preparedness

Preservation also encompasses emergency preparedness. Libraries, archives, and museums have to plan responses and recovery if and when an unexpected disaster occurs. Disasters such as fires and floods are devastating to physical and digital collections. While every library and institution has specific considerations regarding their collections, general guidelines can prompt better preparation. The following government agencies and non-profits provide guidelines and suggestions on how libraries can prepare for disasters:

• Library of Congress’s Preservation on Emergency Management: https://www.loc.gov/preservation/emergprep/index.html
• Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts: https://ccaha.org/resources 
• Syracuse University maintains a page on emergency preparedness: https://onlinegrad.syracuse.edu/blog/emergency-preparedness/

Emergency preparedness is not just for libraries! Individuals should plan for potential disasters too. One common disaster which can wreck a personal collection of print material is flooding. Whether from bad weather or from a leaky pipe, flooding can cause damage to print books and create the conditions for mold to grow. Some steps to consider when dealing with water damaged paper material as provided by the Library of Congress: What To Do When Collections Get Wet:

1. Remove the material still dry to a safer and drier location. 
2. Keep the area cool and low on humidity with a dehumidifier. 
3. To air dry books, place paper towels in between damp pages to let them air dry. Do not try to separate dripping wet pages until they have dried. 
4. Keep an eye on the books to ensure there is no mold growth.

Learning how to respond when disaster strikes can help you preserve your collections and family treasurers for years to come.  

Conclusion

Preservation Week is a great time to learn about how libraries and museums work to preserve books and historical artifacts. A few ideas for how you can participate:

• Check out some of the free webinars available on the Preservation Week website.  
• Review your own emergency preparedness policies with loved ones to ensure you’re prepared to act in the event of an emergency.
• Plan a Preservation Week even to spread awareness about preservation techniques and professions.

However you choose to celebrate, enjoy yourself and explore the suggested reading below for additional resources. Take the opportunity to discover something new this week!

Charles Gallagher is a Research and Instruction Librarian at The Catholic University of America University Libraries.

 

References

American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. (a). Caring for books. Retrieved April 23 2025, from https://f9f7df2c79cc13143598-609f7062990e04dd7dd5b501c851683c.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/aichaw_5adbd22319fae7932d2563614b0f60ed.pdf

American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. (b). Caring for home videotapes. American Institute for Conservation. Retrieved April 23 2025, from https://learning.culturalheritage.org/files/9cde3532-94b8-41fe-96e6-f41566f156e8?ref_id=2039

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Caring for photographs. American Institute for Conservation. Retrieved April 23 2025, from https://learning.culturalheritage.org/files/9cde3532-9b40-4c7e-b6ec-08dbce11a8e2?ref_id=2039

American Library Association. Preservation Week: Celebration. https://www.ala.org/events/preservation-week

Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures. Preservation Week 2025: Preserve the Past, Shape the Future: Inspiring the Next Generation. https://preservationweek.org/

Library of Congress. What To Do When Collections Get Wet. https://www.loc.gov/preservation/emergprep/dry.html

Syracuse University. 2025. How Libraries Can Prepare for Natural Disasters and Preserve Community History. https://onlinegrad.syracuse.edu/blog/emergency-preparedness/

Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., and Lyons, D. 2024. “Libraries on the Front Lines: The Imperative for Disaster-Ready Information Professionals.” Journal of Library Administration, 65 (1), 79. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2024.2432230

 

Further Reading

Library of Congress. The Deterioration and Preservation of Paper: Some Essential Facts. https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/deterioratebrochure.html

Syracuse University. How Libraries Can Prepare for Natural Disasters and Preserve Community History. https://onlinegrad.syracuse.edu/blog/emergency-preparedness/

Library of Congress. Preservation. Emergency Management. https://www.loc.gov/preservation/emergprep/#emergency 

Catholic University Mullen Library. Digital Scholar Bytes: World Digital Preservation Day: Safeguarding Our Digital Heritage. https://www.lib.cua.edu/wordpress/newsevents/21879/ 

Catholic University Mullen Library. Digital Scholar Bytes: Preservation Week. https://lib.cua.edu/wordpress/newsevents/22551/