Preservation in Action in DC

Preservation in Action in DC

It’s quickly becoming a yearly tradition. When the annual conference of the American Library Association rolls into town, librarians from around the US and Canada pitch in to help a local cultural institution preserve part of its collection by taking part in a program called Preservation in Action.

When ALA met in Washington, D.C. this June, the librarians were invited to the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) by Mark Greek, Archival Collections Coordinator in the department of Special Collections. Greek oversees the Washingtoniana Collection of materials focusing on D.C. local history from the late 18th Century to the present.

Many of the items in the Washingtoniana Collection were books and pamphlets that needed rehoused into safe, archival enclosures.

The event happened at the temporary home of Special Collections, a brick building that once held the offices of the National Geographic Society.

PiA—now in its fourth year—is organized by members of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS). PiA not only brings librarians of all types together to help organize and protect collections, it also promotes awareness of library preservation itself. The expertise for the workshop is supplied by PARS members who are preservation librarians, and book and paper conservators. They guide and teach the other librarians who sign up to help, as well as the staff of the local institution who carry on preserving the collection long after ALA has left town.

Archival Products has been a proud sponsor of PiA for three years. This year, the Washingtoniana collection was rehoused into our Adjustable Four Flap Enclosures, QuickBind™ Pamphlet Binders, and Reinforced L-Sleeves.

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