What happens when Princeton University Library (PUL) staff find a book with a torn page? Or discover potential pests in the collection? Usually, the first course of action is notifying the staff in the Preservation and Conservation (P&C) Department, who specialize in repairs, mends, and conservation of any and all of the materials in Library collections. 

In an effort to help empower their colleagues, P&C staff hosted the third iteration of its Preservation Liaisons program, which serves to help participants become more comfortable with identifying preservation concerns within their own roles and working with Preservation and Conservation to address them. 

“The hope is that this helps people feel like they’ve gained some knowledge about preservation so that they can add to their professional skills and continue to be faithful stewards of our collection,” said Eli Boyne, Preventive Conservator and head of the Preservation Liaison’s program.

Founded in 2019, the Preservation Liaisons program takes participants through five modules: care and handling, identifying damage, identifying mold and pest issues, environmental management, and collections emergency response. Each lesson features readings about the profession and introduces participants to ways to identify common problems and strategies that preservation practitioners use to address them. 

In the most recent session, the liaisons visited the lab to get an introduction to each of the team’s responsibilities and to learn about proper book handling in cases of mold.

“Every branch has a mold and pest kit that outlines what to do when our staff find a moldy item,” Boyne said. The kits give staff tools to use when they find a single moldy item in the collection, and instructions on how to protect themselves and collection materials while preparing the item to send to P&C. 

“With this program, we’re able to expand that knowledge about potential preservation issues and encourage good communication between library staff and staff at the lab,” Boyne said. 

Herb Merrill, a Library Collections Specialist in Resource Sharing, handles a high volume of PUL and non-PUL items thanks to the Interlibrary Loan and Borrow Direct programs.

“Participating in the Preservation Liaisons program has given me the ability to recognize the different types of damage to our circulating items and assess what steps need to be taken in order to preserve them,” Merrill said. “In addition, one of the things I have most appreciated is the team-building experience of getting to know people in the Preservation & Conservation Department.” 

Likewise, Boyne noted that working with the Liaisons has helped her familiarize herself with institutional knowledge about the challenges and successes around item care around the Library. 

“It’s been really fun. It’s been really great to work more closely with our colleagues,” Boyne said.