The profession of French conservators is in danger

I have received a petition from Claude Laroque, Senior Lecturer and
Head of the Book and Paper specialty at the Sorbonne program in
Paris, France, concerning the status of conservators in France.

A new law was proposed in January of this year that subsumes the
profession of conservator-restorer into the craftsmen/artisan
category, which fundamentally misrepresents the profession.  French
conservators are circulating this petition in order to gain enough
signatures to change the language of this law to more accurately
represent the activities and fundamental goals of the profession.

Having graduated from the Sorbonne program, this deeply concerns me.
A number of my classmates and colleagues from the Sorbonne have
completed internships and fellowships at institutions all over the
United States.  We are all passionate and dedicated to the
profession, as I'm sure many conservators in the US have come to
experience.

Please help by reading the entirety of the petition, which outlines
more in detail the situation in France, and by signing the document
if you feel moved by the situation.  This would go a long way
towards helping French conservators maintain their status as
conservators of cultural heritage.

    <URL:http://www.petitions24.com/alert__french_conservators-restorers_are_in_danger>

Sue Donovan
Rare Book Conservator
University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:43
                  Distributed: Tuesday, March 29, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-29-43-004
                                  ***