March 26, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Pamela Higgins
(410) 516-8337
pamela.higgins@jhu.edu

CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS CONSERVATION FOR LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES

The Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries have been awarded $61,200 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to convene a conference of internationally recognized conservators and applied research scientists to identify the most pressing conservation issues facing book and paper collections in U.S. libraries and archives.

Sophia Jordan-Mowery, the libraries’ Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka Feldmann Director of Library Preservation, and Nels Olson, an analytical chemist and former chief of the Preservation Research and Testing Division at the Library of Congress, will co-chair the conference, which will be held at Johns Hopkins on April 28-29.

“Our nation’s libraries and archives continue to provide access to rich book and paper collections,” Jordan-Mowery said. “As such, preservation and conservation remain core responsibilities. While conservators and scientists have partnered on an ad-hoc basis to provide critical skills and techniques to address deterioration as well as an understanding of how materials age, a more programmatic approach is needed in order to advance the conservation science associated with book and paper collections.

“We need to bring conservators, scientists, industry and the academic community together to identify, prioritize and develop sound, affordable strategies for the care of the nation’s cultural heritage materials in book and paper format,” she said.   

The 24 experts invited to participate include senior conservators, scientists from academic institutions and industry, from the United States and Europe.

“The Sheridan Libraries are well-positioned to launch the discussion of a national conservation science research agenda,” said Winston Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries at Johns Hopkins. “The libraries’ conservation program has distinguished itself from others since its inception in the mid-1970s by providing ongoing apprenticeships and internships. 

“More than 600 individuals have been trained in the program -- including bookbinders, conservators, and preservation administrators -- many of whom continue to serve in some capacity in our nation’s libraries and archives,” Tabb said. “The university’s highly regarded engineering program and its emphasis on research provide an ideal environment for exploring new strategic partnerships of the kind this conference is designed to stimulate.”

Similar interdisciplinary and inter-institutional models for the advancement of conservation science research already exist in the United Kingdom and have been quite successful.

“We are delighted to take the lead in developing comparable programs in the United States,” Jordan-Mowery said. 

“At the conclusion of the conference a detailed set of specific proposals --directed to conservators, scientists, industry, and academic research programs in allied areas -- will be advanced to address the research/development activities needed to conserve our nation’s book and paper materials,” she said.

The Sheridan Libraries encompass the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and its collections at the Hutzler Reading Room, Garrett Library and the George Peabody Library.

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