The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC) is now home to UBC Library’s newest specialized space dedicated to the conservation, preservation and treatment of the library’s physical materials. Completed in early September 2021, the Conservation Space is staffed by conservator Anne Lama, conservation technician Hannah McKendry, and student staff who ensure that the library’s circulating collections and rare materials will stand the test of time.
Rudi Traichel, who oversees the library’s preservation services as a technical services librarian, says that the Conservation Space has been a long-held dream for his team and its realization an important milestone for the library.
“While the actual construction started in late 2021, that was after a number of years, and a lot of discussions and planning,” says Traichel, noting that a key factor in moving forward with the project was finalizing a location, which was chosen with care to position the Space in close proximity to Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) and University Archives.
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The new Conservation Space significantly expands the scale and scope of work that Lama and McKendry can take on, with access to large worktables, storage space, better security infrastructure, and new equipment.
“The quarantine room, for example, helps to isolate documents compromised by mold; in the wet room, we perform more elaborate conservation work,” says Lama. “We now welcome larger projects as we can work on more items at the same time. We can spread them around and keep the rare materials overnight during the conservation treatment because the space is under alarm.”
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
