Re: Book cleaning project

[aarmour@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Annie Armour-Jones)]

About cleaning stacks:

Hi Lorraine,

  We have had major cleanings of two discrete collections in our library in
the last few years.  For the first one, we used library staff, and for the
second, outside sources.  I personally would recommend contracting out, but
if you can't...

If you do use staff, be aware that some people cannot do it without getting
sick, and others will find out into the project that they can't do it
either.  Sometimes this causes resentment among staff, so you need a way to
make it "fair."  Maybe those who don't clean could take up the slack on
other duties.  If you can motivate staff at all levels to work alongside
each other, the team effort can be a big morale booster.  It is not
productive to have anyone clean for more than two hours at a time, or four
hours per day.  It is also difficult to stress productivity when careful
handling is important.  With 4 million books, you are bound to run into
your share of deteriorated gems.  Do a test run to see what is reasonable
to do on an ongoing basis and what problems you might run into. Set clearly
achievable goals and then praise the staff for surpassing them.

If you are cleaning mold (and I hope you don't have any), it is recommended
to use respirators, not dust masks (and also lab coats, gloves, and eye
protection).  I would also use either disposable cloths (we use Kim-Wipes
for mold cleaning so we spread fewer spores), or vacuums with HEPA filters,
not dustbusters. We have used a combination of the two with good success,
but sometimes it is overkill. There are now portable HEPA vacuums on the
market (I'm sorry I can't remember where).  When mold is present, we often
use denatured alcohol, but I wouldn't when using lots of people because you
can't use it on every variety of books that are found in stacks.

For cleaning mold, we followed safety guidelines published in a technical
leaflet by Philadelphia's Conservation Center for Art and Historic
Artifacts.  Our safety officer has told us essentially the same things the
leaflet did about what precautions to take.

We spent three days "cleaning out" the library last year.  We had pizza and
good break food, joked around, took candid pictures, and basically had a
great time while working hard.  One of the greatest incentives was that the
head librarian worked harder than any of us.

Motivating a large staff-as you must have-is bound to be more challenging
than the 25 or so that we have!  Good luck.  It gives me a headache just
thinking about it.

Annie Armour-Jones


>After nearly 30 years of gathering moss (and dust and mold and mildew),
>we are finally considering launching a major book cleaning project at the
>IU Main Library, which houses about 4 million volumes....

Annie Armour-Jones
Archives, Rare Books, and Preservation
Jessie Ball duPont Library
735 University Avenue
Sewanee, Tennessee 37383
615-508-1387
615-598-1702 (FAX)
aarmour@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx