Mold

I have two questions related to mould growth in library collections;
the branch library in question is currently being monitored for
environmental fluctuations--at present the relative humidity is way
too high.  I have searched the Cons DistList archives for
information on this topic, and have found lots of useful info on
environments, but am wondering if anyone can shed some light on
mould behaviour. (Please note that this is an 'ordinary' not rare
collection)

    1.  If there is active mould in a collection, how quickly could
        it be expected to spread to new materials?  We have found
        what seem to be different varieties of mould and mildew on
        bound journals which are more than ten years old; if there
        is no mould on newer materials, does that mean it is
        possible that the mould outbreak occurred in the past, and
        is no longer active, or will it be a matter of months or
        years before the mould becomes evident on new items?

    2.  If an item is water-damaged (ie arrived wet in the post),
        but was dry before being included in the library collection,
        what is the danger of mould developing on the dry item?  I
        assume that if the temperature and humidity are at
        appropriate levels, there would be little danger of mould
        developing once the item is dry--is this correct?

Julie Blyth
Medical Librarian
Royal Perth Hospital Library
Australia


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:2
                  Distributed: Thursday, June 29, 2000
                        Message Id: cdl-14-2-028
                                  ***