Volume 10, Number 3
1997

Preservation of Newspapers

It's 1913, and Librarians are Considering What to do About Newspapers. They Decide to Push for Special Editions on Good Paper.

Abridged from the Bulletin of the American Library Association, v. 7 #1, January, 1913, p. 22-28. Headings have been added.

On November 26th a conference was held in Brooklyn attended by one member of the committee and by representatives of several New York papers. A somewhat detailed report on "The preservation of paper"* was submitted to this conference by John Norris, chairman of the committee on paper of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association.

Mr. Norris in his report stated that the American Chemical Society had specified a grade of paper consisting of 75% rag and 25% bleached chemical pulp, or its equivalent, for the records of the society, and had secured the desired quality for approximately 6-1/2 cents per pound.

Printing Papers Used by the Government

He also stated that in 1904, Secretary Wilson of the Department of Agriculture authorized the Bureau of Chemistry to investigate the subject of suitable papers for government purposes.

The investigation covered about 5,000 samples of paper and resulted in the issue of two circulars by the Bureau of Chemistry. Subsequently the Joint Committee of Congress on Printing appointed a commission to pass upon this matter. Its report was adopted December 18, 1911, and now controls all government supplies of paper and printing and binding materials. In the following month, a public bidding was held. The standard printing paper that would "endure indefinitely" was as follows:

Weight, 25 x 40, 500; 50-pound basis (24x38-45)
Thickness shall not exceed .0035 inch.
Strength shall not be less than 18 points.
Stock shall be not less than 75 per cent rag; the remainder may be bleached chemical wood, free from unbleached or ground wood pulp.
Ash shall not exceed 5 per cent.
Size--The total rosin shall not exceed 2 per cent.

The contract for paper supplied on this specification was awarded at 4-1/2 cents per pound.

Higher Cost of Good Newsprint is Daunting

A lengthy discussion followed the presentation of the report. It was agreed that the additional cost for the better grade of paper would not be serious, and that there would probably be no difficulty in getting the paper mills to produce the higher grade in rolls of the right size if there was a demand for it, but that the question of the cost of handling the special edition was one which would have to be settled by the individual publisher and would probably vary greatly in different offices according to the style of presses in use.

Mr. H. F. Gunnison, for the Brooklyn Eagle, stated that that paper would undertake to publish such an edition, beginning with the first of the year [1913], and would supply a library with two copies, one on the regular wood-pulp paper for current use--the other on the special grade of paper. The special copies would be unfolded, stored in a dark place, and delivered to the library once a month. This he estimated could be done with their presses at a very small expense.

As an outcome of the discussion Mr. Norris agreed to ascertain from publishers how many would feel justified in printing an extra edition, and the A.L.A. Committee was to find out how many librarians would subscribe for such an edition and what particular papers would be taken.

The circulars sent out, and replies thereto, form the appendices of this report.

The publishers' circular was sent to every member of the association--330 in number--while the A.L.A. circular went to 180 libraries.

To the former 167 replies were received and to the latter 144.

A large majority of publishers were inclined to think the cost prohibitive, but ten publishers beside the Eagle found the project sufficiently attractive to justify the labor and cost which a special edition would entail. These were:

The Advertiser, Montgomery, Ala.
The Capital, Topeka, Kansas.
The Daily Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wis.
The Minneapolis Tribune.
New Orleans Item.
New Yorker Staats-Zeitung.
Providence Evening Bulletin.
Providence Journal.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Washington Evening Star.

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican and the Louisville (Ky.) Herald responded that they might consider the matter later.

The letters from the N.Y. Evening Post, The Chicago Daily News and the Portland (Maine) Evening Express, included herewith, are interesting as showing the willingness of publishers to bear their share--and more--of the burden.

All librarians who answered were anxious to have newspapers for binding purposes printed on a grade of paper better than the ordinary edition, but most of them were likely to subscribe for the local paper only....

J. I. Wyer, Jr., state librarian of New York, said that before subscribing for some fifty daily and weekly papers in New York state he would help the cause by sending a preliminary letter to newspaper publishers stating that he was considering their papers for preservation in bound form, but was reluctant to place a continuing subscription unless assurances should be given that the grade of paper on which they were printed would be of the same quality as that of the Brooklyn Eagle.

Editorials have appeared in many newspapers, most of them favorable to the general scheme, a few, however, have taken the opposite tack and ridiculed the idea.

The New York Evening World of December 11, 1912, whose representative at the conference had been in favor of the project, at least so far as other papers were concerned, printed an editorial against what it called "preserved" or "pickled" newspapers, belittling the importance of newspaper files to the future historian.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of December 12 answered "The World" by stating its belief that newspapers would be of value to posterity and announced, as a proof of its conviction, that it would meet the wishes of librarians by printing a special edition on a better quality of paper than that used for the regular edition.

The publishers of this paper through a circular issued December 14, 1912, announced that beginning January 1, 1913, they would issue an extra edition on 75% rag paper at a subscription price of $15 per year. The Eagle is the first paper to take a decided stand which it is hoped will soon be followed by a number of newspapers throughout the country.

The investigation of the committee has brought out the fact that the preservation of newspapers depends not alone upon the quality of paper on which they are printed, but also upon the attention which is given to the binding and storage of the papers. This is shown in Mr. Norris's report.

"An examination of the places of storage in the libraries and of the conditions of storage convinces me that while the ordinary newsprint paper may not be in any respect suitable for purposes of preservation, the methods of handling those papers when bound are conducive to deterioration. This criticism applies not only to libraries but to newspaper offices and substantially all places where newspaper files are stored. In many of the libraries, the files are subjected to treatment which deprives the paper of its required moisture. The libraries dry out the newspapers by keeping them in rooms with an average temperature of 70°, which is bound in the course of time to cause deterioration. The artificial heat renders the paper extremely brittle and makes it crumble like isinglass when handled. Excessive dampness is also disadvantageous.

"Improvement in the preservation of these historical records may be obtained: 1st. By using a printing paper that will endure indefinitely. 2d. By binding with materials that do not attract minute organisms. 3d. By storing under conditions (a) that do not deprive the paper of all its moisture; (b) or subject it to excessive dampness; (c) or subject it to chemical action produced by sunshine or gas or artificial heat or similar agencies of deterioration; (d) or propagate insects or other growth."

The following is a summary of the suggestions and recommendations of your committee.

a. That bound volumes of newspapers printed since 1880 should be printed on the edges with "cellit," an American product prepared by the Chemical Product Company, Boston, or a similar preparation.

b. That they be stored in a sealed room, where possible, of an even temperature of 50° free from dampness.

c. That the volumes be kept flat with air space about them and not be exposed to sunlight.

d. That current numbers be kept flat, and bound with a good serviceable material as soon as the volume is completed.

e. That libraries endeavor to induce local publishers to print a special library edition on a 75 per cent rag paper.

f. That librarians subscribe only to those newspapers which are printed on paper better than the regular edition.

g. That librarians consider the desirability of securing legislation by which the subscriptions of state libraries would be limited to papers which are printed on a 75 per cent rag paper....