shelf full of books in need of care

Preservation

The Preservation Unit is responsible for overseeing the long-term preservation of the University of Arkansas Libraries' physical collections to ensure access to materials by all users, now and in the future. Preservation encompasses a wide range of activities, including preventive care, conservation treatments for damaged materials, commercial binding, collection/item assessment, and collections disaster recovery.

Collections Care

Collections care involves practices that combat risk to the Libraries’ collections. Preventive conservation work minimizes or slows the rate of deterioration and prevents damage to items. This work includes:

  • Environmental management of temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and light within collection spaces
  • Education on best practices for handling and use
  • Emergency preparedness
  • Reviewing materials prior to exhibition
  • Risk assessment
  • Integrated pest management
  • Writing procedures for different aspects of collections care
  • Regular housekeeping programs

Preventive measures are combined with proper care and handling of materials, like books, paper, photographs, or audiovisual/electronic media, to maintain the collections and ensure usable conditions.

Conservation

Conservation treatments and repairs are performed in the Preservation Lab. Our goal is to stabilize and improve the condition of the Libraries' circulating collections, with a focus on high-priority materials and cost-effective solutions. We work with damaged (and sometimes even new) items to make them accessible and shelf-ready.

We also work with Special Collections materials; these receive minimally invasive and reversible repairs. Prior to treatment, items are closely examined, and their condition and repair methods are documented. Items are housed in custom preservation-quality enclosures.

Our primary aim is preserving cultural property while striving to meet the highest possible standards in treatment. We are guided by the AIC Code of Ethics in our approach to treatments and repairs.

The type of treatment and repair work done for collection items includes:

  • Spine repair
  • Paper repair
  • Hinge repair & tightening
  • Cover repair
  • Surface cleaning
  • Adhesive removal
  • Recasing
  • Creating custom enclosures
  • Pamphlet binding
  • Page tip-ins
  • Humidification and flattening

Commercial Binding

Commercial binding helps prolong and preserve materials by providing a hard cover and secure binding for damaged items or those with soft covers. We send periodicals, monographs, and music books from Mullins Library and the Fine Arts, Physics, and Chemistry branch libraries to the HF Group for commercial binding. For information related to departmental shipments, please contact us.

Students interested in a bound copy of their thesis or dissertation can visit Thesis on Demand to place an order.

Information

Learn about our unit on our Staff Guide and blog: Preservation at UARK and By the Book.

Information for the wider community:

  • The Preservation Unit does not provide preservation, conservation, or rebinding services for items that are not held in the Libraries collections. However, please feel free to contact us for guidance or advice regarding any preservation or conservation questions.
  • Care for your treasures, but don’t cause irreversible damage to your precious things due to lack of experience or skills.
  • Find an AIC professional to make repairs.
  • Things to consider before talking to a conservator.

Information for UARK Libraries’ staff:

Who We Are

Preservation
University of Arkansas Libraries
104 Mullins Library
365 N. McIlroy Ave.
Fayetteville, AR 72701-4002
preserve@uark.edu

Mary Leverance (she/her/hers)
Preservation & Conservation Coordinator
mleveran@uark.edu
479-575-2535

Mary is focused on managing the unit, and preventive conservation and collections care, including environmental monitoring, emergency response, integrated pest management, reviewing materials needing treatment, and preservation planning.

Sally Crutcher (she/her/hers)
Preservation and Binding Supervisor
crutcher@uark.edu
479-575-6651

Sally is focused on the physical conservation of circulating and Special Collections materials, including assessing damaged items, repairing books and paper, and rehousing items in premade and custom enclosures. She also oversees the Libraries’ binding operations.

Amber Cooper (she/her/hers)
Binding and Preservation Assistant
arc026@uark.edu
479-575-6085

Amber is focused on the physical conservation of circulating collections, including repairing books and paper and rehousing items in premade and custom enclosures. She also sends periodicals and monographs for commercial binding and assists with other tasks needing extra help.