Preservation of materials is a core value of libraries, whether the items are print or electronic, analog or digital. With print materials, the most vital concern is the environment in which materials are stored. Heritage Preservation recently published a report, The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections. According to the study, “Providing a safe environment and proper care for collections is a fundamental responsibility of all institutions and individuals who care about our heritage.” The study also found “the most urgent preservation need at U.S. collecting institutions is environmental control.”
Having recognized this need, Falk Library of the Health Sciences recently completed a project to ensure the preservation of the rare books and archival collections. A state-of-the-art heating and air conditioning system was recently installed in the rare book room. It provides appropriate temperature and humidity, the two vital components of environmental control. Heat, coupled with low relative humidity, could potentially lead to dryness and brittleness in the kind of organic materials found in print books (paper, leather, parchment). Temperature and humidity are now regulated at ideal ranges to preserve these materials.
HSLS treasures, such as two 16th-century anatomy books by Vesalius and the multiple volumes of insane hospital reports from the 19th century, will now continue to be available for researchers into the future.
~ Leslie Czechowski