Conservation
Issues relating to the preservation of the collection are of great importance to a library with a historic collection. This is not just a matter of preserving books, but also of safeguarding our cultural heritage. Unfortunately, in previous years it was not always possible to store the ULB’s historic collections under ideal conditions. Unfavourable climatic and lighting conditions, as well as a lack of packaging or the use of unsuitable packaging, led in some cases to damage that now needs to be rectified.
The ULB Saxony-Anhalt is therefore undertaking initiatives in various areas to protect its valuable collections and thus ensure they remain accessible to researchers in the long term. These measures range from storing items in climate-controlled and light-protected storage facilities, through the use of suitable protective packaging, to bulk cleaning, pest monitoring, bulk deacidification, individual restoration and preservation digitisation.
The ULB regularly secures external funding for major collection preservation projects.
In our in-house Bookbinding workshop Historical collections and selected items published after 1850 are processed by a qualified bookbinder. The workshop carries out rebinding and repairs to books, restores damaged or loose stitching and adhesive bindings, and produces booklets. The preparation and post-processing of library materials for digitisation is also particularly important. Where necessary, boxes and other containers for library materials are also constructed, and so-called ‘representative boards’ are cut to size.
Adjacent to the bookbinding workshop is the Restoration workshop where two qualified conservators (holding either a Diplom or a Master’s degree) are responsible for the preservation of the historical collections.
This involves not only the practical restoration of books, documents, prints and other library materials made of paper, leather and parchment, but also preventative conservation. This includes, for example, the monitoring and control of micro-organisms (mould) and pests (known as IPM = integrated pest management). In doing so, we must constantly monitor the condition of the valuable manuscripts, printed works and all other media holdings of the University and State Library and, where necessary, improve it through targeted measures. This ensures that the historical collections can continue to be made available to our users. The conservators also support research into our objects by answering enquiries about historical materials and production techniques.
The restorers’ duties also include assessing the ULB’s collections, drawing up action plans and cost estimates, and carrying out quality controls, so that parts of the collections can be sent out for restoration in addition to the work carried out in-house. This takes place, for example, as part of funded programmes run by the Co-ordination Office for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage (KEK), the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the State of Saxony-Anhalt.
Since 2015, seven projects have already been funded by the Co-ordination Office for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage using federal funds co-funded projects achieved.