After a two year hiatus, the Preservation Lab once again was able to celebrate the American Library Association’s Preservation Week. And this year, the lab decided to take Preservation Week to the public.
On the morning of April 21st, Catarina and Jessica took one of the lab’s rolling work tables to the entrance of the Langsam library. There they set up a demonstration area with some very dirty books, to show the public a little bit about surface cleaning. They brought out the different supplies used in surface cleaning (such as hydrophilic sponges, smoke sponges, eraser crumbles and vinyl erasers). In addition to surface cleaning materials, Jessica and Catarina also brought some Japanese tissue for the public to touch and learn about tear repair.
Jessica is actively surface cleaning a very grimy book.Catarina is surface cleaning a dirty book using a hydrophilic sponge.Another view of the entire set up with a tear repair station.
A few members of the public were too nervous to even try to surface clean a little bit of the dirty books (all filled with soot from coal burning stoves), but others were brave enough and felt that surface cleaning was a very satisfying and relaxing treatment.
Jessica encouraging a UC student to try to surface clean.Catarina explaining why surface cleaning was the first step to repair the broken inner joint.
In the afternoon of the same day, Chris and Hyacinth showed the public a variety of enclosures and how they are made from beginning to end. There were corrugated clamshell boxes, one with an integrated cradle, cloth clamshell boxes, tuxedo boxes and a Japanese four-sided enclosure.
Chris also brought a corrugated clamshell in its early stages to show the public how the process of making a corrugated clamshell begins.
Chris and Hyacinth showing their display of models and enclosures.Hyacinth explaining to some UC students the different Japanese four-sided enclosure compared to other enclosures.The different enclosures that Chris and Hyacinth showed to the public. Hyacinth sharing with an interested public.
The crowd favorites were the elaborate cloth covered clamshell box made by Chris, and the beautiful Japanese four-sided enclosure made by Hyacinth.
Even though this was a smaller event compared to our open house tours of the past, the event was a success; allowing the Preservation Lab staff to share with the UC community a peek into our daily work and explain what goes on in the Preservation Lab. But Preservation week is not done yet…
This upcoming Friday, April 29th at 1 pm, join Holly and Ashleigh at the Clifton Branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton Public Library, .They will be showing some books models, explaining how books are made and what materials are used. You can find more details in the following link: https://cincinnatilibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/625422b5cd8e792f000bcfc5
As you might imagine remote work for a preservation lab is…complicated. Not all items awaiting treatment are good candidates for repair in the home studios of staff – the repair might require specialized equipment that is only available in the lab (e.g. suction table), the item may be too valuable to transport to a private home without engaging UC risk management and CHPL administration (i.e. all our special collections!), or the object may be too large to safely be worked on in our diminutive setups (e.g. many books with the folio designation).
But, that doesn’t mean that work from home isn’t happening! The image below is a batch of completed treatments awaiting return to our partners. These treatments are general circulating items that have been repaired, as well as items receiving custom enclosures created without the object, using just the objects measurements. The materials have been treated from home and now, on our new abbreviated lab schedule, are being end processed and returned to their originating institutions.
Though we all deeply miss the day-to-day work in the Preservation Lab, remotely we maintain our ethos of preservation stewardship keeping us connected to the lab’s preservation mission and the missions of our parent institutions. In this, we remain unchanged.
University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) and Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) materials awaiting packing for delivery.
After nearly 5 months of working from home, Preservation Lab staff are finally returning to the Lab and to UC’s campus in a very safe and limited way. In mid-March, like most of the country, UC Libraries and the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library shut down, forcing staff from both institutions to pivot and begin working remotely. After many months of webinars, research, model making, box making, some general collections treatment, and a whole lot of Microsoft Teams meetings and town halls, both institutions are beginning to open back up and offer some services. Luckily for the Lab staff, throughout this period of solely remote work, our UCL co-manager and Preservation Librarian, Holly, would make weekly or bi-weekly runs to the Lab to pick up materials we might need while working from home. We would then schedule our contact-free pick up of requested materials with her. The whole process ran rather smoothly and got us by for many, many months.
Since the Lab is located on UC’s campus, in Langsam Library, the Lab follows UC’s procedures for Returning to Campus. The preparation for returning to the Lab involved a workplace assessment of the space, a phased plan for returning to the Lab (which was vetted and approved), mandatory COVID-19 training, daily wellness checks, mandatory facial coverings, and social distancing.
Jessica and Catarina, all masked up, during one of their first shifts in the Lab.
The Preservation Lab’s plan to return includes the use of a cohort system to reduce exposure and better aid in contact tracing, if needed in the future. For the month of August, two cohorts would go back for 3 to 3 ½ hour shifts, one day a week. For example, cohort #1 consists of Catarina and myself while cohort #2 consists of Kasie and Holly. Cohort #1 goes into the Lab on Monday mornings, while cohort #2 goes in Friday mornings. While working in the Lab, our focus is on production and treatment – this means that we are either actively treating special collections items or working to evaluate, measure or prep materials to take home for treatment or housing.
Catarina working on special collection materials from third party client Conner Prairie.
Catarina working on special collection materials from UC Libraries’ Classics Library.
Materials evaluated and prepped for split board bindings to be done at home by Kasie.
Materials evaluated and prepped for split board bindings to be done at home by Jessica.
We’ve also made slight adjustments to our workspaces so that staff can stay as distanced as possible while they work. For example, Catarina has moved to our student staff bench area since she and I, under normal circumstances, are benchmates and work right across from each other. I don’t think Catarina is minding having all this space to herself to spread out and work on multiple projects at once while she’s in the Lab.
In anticipation for this exciting and overwhelming change – going from working from home for over 4 months and basically living in quarantine to going back into the Lab and onto campus with another human being, while wearing a mask the whole time – we made thoughtful decisions regarding shifts and breaks. We only work 3 to 3 ½ hours at a time and we take individual breaks once an hour in our outdoor space just outside the lab.
Our little jungle oasis, just outside the Lab.
A place where we can go outside, take off our mask, have a snack and breathe some fresh air.
We each have dedicated sanitation supplies to make sure we disinfect before, during and after our shifts. We also decided that we would dispose of our own garbage at home, in order to further restrict access to our floor from non-Lab staff members, like housekeeping. Langsam Library, where the Lab is located, is also using a channel on Microsoft Teams to check-in and out while you are in the building. This not only let’s you know who else is in the building with you, who you might come across while in certain parts of the building (for example, the restroom), but will also give us a fairly accurate record to present to any contact tracing efforts in the future, if needed.
Overall, I think our approach to returning to the Lab has been a thoughtful and cautious one. From UC’s COVID procedures (wellness checks, facial coverings, social distancing, etc.) to our use of the cohort system and the small adjustments made to our workflow and setup, I feel very safe returning to the Lab and very fortunate to have the time/space to prep materials to take home.
Jessica and Catarina wrapping up their shift by sanitizing and taking their garbage with them – while also wearing their masks and distancing!
We are looking forward to expanding our plan in September to possibly include another cohort. Until then, make sure to check out our Instagram (@thePreservationLab) where you can see all the things we’re working on remotely and in the Lab.
The Preservation Lab is lucky to have a lot of equipment. One of our more interesting pieces is a shrink-wrap machine. We bring the machine out about once a year when we have a fair amount of bound materials that meet the following criteria:
part of the general circulating collection;
an item with a history of little or low use;
brittle paper, making rebinding or repair impossible or too time consuming;
replacements are not available or prohibitively expensive considering use.
Before the retirement of Pat Schmude, a UCL conservation technician in the lab for 28 years, we brought the machine up so that he could remind us of all the special things we need to do to make it work optimally — all the things you just don’t find in a manual but you know from 20+ years experience.
And of course we did have a little fun…here is my coffee mug shrink-wrapped. I’m trying to give it up…so far I haven’t broken the seal!
Clockwise – The finished product; Pat Schmude and Ashleigh Schieszer; Ashleigh, Jessica Ebert, and Pat; the coffee cup in question; Ashleigh and Jessica; and Chris Voynovich.
