One of the things I love most about working here in the Lab is that’s like the proverbial shark: always moving. We’re constantly learning and growing and trying new things; it’s great! We do, however, reside rather off the beaten path in the library, so it often happens that unless people have to come down for a specific purpose, they never know what we’re up to now.
Enter the annual Open House. You would think that after so many years, it would be pretty rank and file, but we’ve managed to keep the fun. This year, in addition to learning a few new things about the lab’s treatment reports on the UC Libraries’ Digital Collections & Repositories site and the hot stamper bookmarks that everyone has come to know and love, we focused on papermaking, highlighted by the opportunity to pull a piece of their very own.  Holly and Catarina walked our guests through the process, to great (and messy) results. People love the opportunity to mix it up and put their hands in things, and I would definitely call it a success.  On top of that, our conservator, Ashleigh, displayed an array of different types of paper and plant fibers that are used to make paper, and she demonstrated and discussed the different ways in which we use paper in the lab (mends, pulps fills, etc.). It was such a good time that I’m not sure how we’ll top it next year. No doubt there’ll be something fascinating going on. Stay tuned!

Jessica talking about the Preservation Lab’s DRC and how/why we are sharing our treatment reports with researchers, patrons, and other conservation professionals.

Holly discussing the papermaking process and the different problems that can occur such as “papermaker’s tears” and air bubbles during couching.

Catarina helping a visiting staff members couch her sheet of paper.

Ashleigh explaining paper sizing and why it’s done.

Book models and examples of paste paper.