Reminder: Preservation Week Begins on April 21st

ALA sent out a reminder news release today about Preservation Week that begins on April 21st. Preservation Week is sponsored by an number of organizations including ALCTS, LC, IMLS, SAA, AIC, and American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

From April 22-28, libraries across America will celebrate Preservation Week @ your library. Themed “Pass it on,” participating libraries will help connect library users with preservation tools; promote the importance of preservation; and will strive to enhance knowledge of preservation issues among the general public.
More than 4.8 billion artifacts are held in public trust by more than 30,000 archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, scientific research collections and archaeological repositories in the United States, with 1.3 billion of these items at risk of being lost.
During the week, libraries will focus on preservation themes including: Monday, LP (vinyl) records; Tuesday, quilts; Wednesday, comic books; Thursday, slides; Friday, digital photos; and Saturday, family letters.
“Preservation week will provide an opportunity for library staff to teach patrons how to care for their family keepsakes,” said Charles Wilt, executive director, Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). “Our goal is to provide the information and the tools to patrons to assist them with preserving things like old photographs that are now yellowing, or great grandma’s quilt. We need to teach the public how to make memories last a lifetime.”

Read the Complete Press Release
Preservation Week Facebook Page
ALA Preservation Week Web Site (Toolkits, Event Finders, etc.)
Preservation Week Press Materials Including Video, PSAs and More

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, Open Access, Patrons and Users, Preservation