Preserving the past, Insuring the future

In the written word lies much of the human record. Books, journals, and manuscripts document and carry our intellectual heritage from generation to generation. They have survived war and disaster, pestilence and social upheaval. Libraries and archives share responsibility for preserving the past and insuring the future. Sheer storage alone cannot guarantee that survival. Even as you and I, a page of paper that can outlast man's chaos is prey to far more common ills, among them is this hungry scavenger. [music] A survivor, itself unchanged for millennia, it can with its fellows, strip a book spine in a single night. [music] This is the American Roach, among the largest of the species. And this, a common silverfish, with appetite for starch, paper, cotton, glue, paste, and linen all of which perfectly describe the library book. [music] This is the bookworm, which, unfortunately shares libraries with the more praiseworthy human variety. [music] The bookworm is the larva of several beetles. It leaves a telltale pinhole outside but inside a devastating gallery [music] there are even book lice like moving pinheads they feed on microscopic fungi if they're present you have a problem with mold if water soaked paper is not soon dried mold takes hold within 48 hours before its newest edition was constructed the Iowa State University Library fought a mold problem for months and was subject to this alarming damage in an area least desired the Department of Special Collections we grew mold in several colors mold that spread from book to book on new books old books and rare books morale that had a veritable banquet table on which to feed insects and mold are not a library's only work personal papers so essential to scholars often arrive torn and damaged with documents caught by their corners or with tape stains and tears even tar deposits from ruptured light fixtures cause concern and books in aging simply come apart if pages are not protected or treated these agents of destruction make terrible inroads such as these silverfish holes all these nearly destroyed books so into bags they go unusable for now awaiting repair or worse lost for good Iowa State has marshaled an arsenal of techniques for protecting its collections a conservation laboratory long-planned as part of its new library edition and the first conservation specialist in the region system ivan Han thought yet sometimes problems are so massive they must involve every technique available even outside help the older library building with aging pipes and sky high humidity made the blossoms of fungus inevitable no matter how careful mold can be everywhere this rainbow assortment was grown from the library's newest shelving and so into fungicidal fogging operators suit up with respirators to avoid fume overload the fogging apparatus has handheld hoses that spray in all directions even Cod catalogs await their dosage and the attack proceeds followed later by a fast escape from the area to peel off those sweat suits the doors are sealed and patron warnings no other toxic chemicals at work monitoring instruments are checked by the Iowa State environmental health and safety personnel and several applications later the old rare book room is ventilated but windows and floors must be cleaned of deposited chemicals and the new addition floors ceilings and shelves must be hand washed to prevent reinfection for such large-scale jobs there had to be a better way Iowa State created it with a semi trailer through the courtesy of an isolated University farm location first an interior plastic tent was used to keep the trailer gas tight then shelving was erected contaminated books were trucked aboard and loaded onto shelves the trailer is full with sensors mounted and hoes heads taped down to form an effective shooting gallery the truck is sealed scales are level and the gas is weighed carefully only the right amount will be used is use intrepid conservation specialist Don's his air mask and space suit as weighing is done and when ventilation begins long graveyard shifts for the specialists lie ahead fumigated work saw vacuumed clean after return for the library but before final transfer to Special Collections Iowa State has also installed a modern fumigation chamber with special exhausts and eye washing sprays and safety shower nearby such fumigation is important since half the library's acquisitions come from foreign countries where insects and mold are less controlled the library's ETO vacuum fumigator holds a truckload of books for fumigation in Special Collections other equipment is at work for constant environmental protection the hydrothermal graph and the site chronometer these measure temperatures and humidity to keep it constant for protecting is use rarities Iowa State also uses Halon gas none injurious to humans its crouches fire in seconds and mobile compact stacks with side vents to help alert smoke sensors in case of fire in Iowa State's conservation laboratory preservation work is fine-tuned here our acid-proof counters and sinks fumehood chambers and chemical storage leather bindings are lubricated with special dressings a british museum formula protective encasements are made locally using a refurbished second hand sheer acid-free boards are cut to provide book enclosures which are creased to make a book box these preserved volumes for further attention later or are used to permanently protect books that are valuable but unrepairable fortunately many books can be repaired here for peeling leather covers a leather strip is applied in the correct position for document repair or torn pages and damaged manuscripts we utilize Japanese mulberry tissue for badly stained books or documents solvent is used carefully and with painstaking care and the final touch your cooperation please as a society we know the importance of saving our architecture our art our environment but preserving mankind's written record has been far slower in arousing public concern the problem is immense and growing as we seek to budget for books we must also budget for preservation the Iowa State University Library has taken careful steps on the local and the national level to meet this challenge and to provide our consultation health throughout Iowa the legacy of the past is a precious gift we build upon it benefit from it and face an obligation to ensure its survival for tomorrow the parks library at Iowa State University is making every effort to preserve that legacy