1980s
Congestion in Widener demonstrated the need for a new library or storage site. Some at Harvard hoped for a new library near Harvard Yard, to be connected to Widener by a bridge or an underground walkway. Oscar Handlin, Director of the University Library, advocated for off-site storage that would provide better conditions than the New England Deposit Library.216
1980s
Oiling of bindings continued to be regular practice at Arnold Arboretum and other botanical collections. Items were also frequently re-housed in acid-free boxes. The Farlow Library regularly sent books to be repaired by outside binders and continued an extensive microfilming project.217
1980-1981
Two endowed preservation funds allowed the Graduate School of Design Library to treat damaged materials and begin conversion to microfilm.218
1981
Edwin E. Williams described the collections care program at Harvard: “For work requiring particular skills and work on very valuable books and manuscripts, we can turn to specialized craftsmen outside the library. For simpler tasks, it seems more reasonable to expect each major library unit to provide its own facilities; if satisfactory mending can be done on the premises, it seems wasteful to send books out. About twenty persons throughout the Harvard Library are regularly engaged in repair work; for at least ten of them, it is a full-time occupation.”219
1981-1983
Villa I Tatti, in Florence, suffered a series of rare book thefts, resulting in increased security measures.220
1982
A revised edition of Emergency Guidelines for Harvard Libraries was published.221
1983-1984
The Farlow Herbarium Library suffered several major leaks from its roof and skylight. The lack of climate control also created problematic conditions for the collection. These problems were addressed in subsequent years.222
1984-1985
Construction began on the Harvard Depository in Southborough. Several libraries at Harvard and MIT planned to use its facilities. The Depository would provide high-density storage for low-use materials. Environmental conditions would be designed for the preservation of holdings instead of the comfort of patrons.223
1985-1986
The University Library Council endorsed a resolution on the preservation of materials produced by or for the Library. Books should be printed on acid-free paper. When possible, binding specifications should be discussed with Harvard conservators. Microform publications should be inspected for completeness and packaged for longevity; publishers should store the microform master copy according to preservation standards.224
1986
Several libraries (Baker Library, the Law School Library) began to move portions of their collections to the Harvard Depository. The process of preparing items for off-site storage often included updated cataloging and item-level repair work.225
1987
A brochure outlining best preservation practices for library exhibitions, Guidelines for Exhibitions, was published by the Harvard University Library.226
1987
Funding from Mr. and Mrs. Edwin A. Malloy made it possible for Harvard to create an endowed position for a preservation librarian. Before the first holder of this position was appointed, Lofton Wilson acted as a preservation fellow in the Harvard University Library.227 She previously directed the Harvard/Radcliffe Manuscript Survey and Guide Project, which “created machine-readable bibliographic records for five thousand manuscript collections in more than fifty repositories at Harvard and Radcliffe.”228
Fall 1989
Carolyn Morrow was appointed Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian, “the first named endowment for a senior preservation librarian in the country.” Harvard soon received the first of several NEH grants to microfilm specific collections. Morrow oversaw the development of a comprehensive preservation program designed to maintain circulating and special collections, and to target materials in need of reformatting.229
1989
Harvard began to participate in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) program to microfilm brittle books and serials. Harvard completed seven grants between 1989 and 2006, microfilming over 105,000 volumes.230
1990
Roger Stoddard, Curator of Rare Books, initiated the “Be Kind to Books” program at Houghton. It would focus on staff education in handling, repairing, and photocopying of library books.231
January 24, 1990
The Collection Preservation Priorities Task Group, composed of librarians from different parts of the Harvard system, held its first meeting in the Preservation Office at 25 Mt. Auburn Street. In 1991, this group published “Preserving Harvard’s Retrospective Collections.”232
August 1990
The Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian in the University Library became a joint appointment with the College Library.233
September 1990
A preliminary report by Carolyn Morrow led to the creation of the Preservation Department in Widener Library. The goals of this department were “to consolidate preservation decision-making and treatment and address severe workflow and backlog problems.”234
November 1990
The Harvard College Library Preservation Department formally opened, with a staff of thirty-four people who had previously worked in other departments of Widener.235
References
216 Carpenter and Horrell, “A Harvard Experience,” 119-120.
217 See Arnold Arboretum, Gray Herbarium, Farlow Library and Herbarium, and Harvard University Herbaria annual reports of this period. For example, see Otto T. Solbrig, “Farlow Library and Herbarium,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1980-1981 (1982): 538-539.
218 Gerald M. McCue, “Graduate School of Design,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1980-1981 (1982): 346.
219 Williams, “The Book-Preservation Problem as Seen at Harvard,” 426-427.
220 Craig Hugh Smyth, “Villa I Tatti,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1982-1983 (1984): 684.
221 Oscar Handlin, “University Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1982-1983 (1984): 429.
222 Donald H. Pfister, “The Harvard University Herbaria,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1983-1984 (1985): 552.
223 Sidney Verba, “University Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1984-1985 (1986): 427-430.
224 Sidney Verba, “University Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1985-1986 (1987): 415.
225 See reports of individual libraries in Sidney Verba, “University Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments 1985-1986 (1987): 388-476.
226 “Harvard Library Bibliography: Supplement,” Harvard Library Bulletin 35, no. 4 (1987): 451.
227 “First Endowed Preservation Post,” Abbey Newsletter 11, no. 5 (1987).
228 “NHPRC Grant Supports Cataloging of Manuscripts and Archives,” Harvard Library Bulletin 32, no. 2 (1984): 191; Susan Baerg Epstein, “Rare Book and Manuscript Libraries in the Twenty-First Century: Technology As Change Agent,” Harvard Library Bulletin New Series 4, no. 1 (1993): 22.
229 “Appointments,” Harvard University Library Annual Report 1989-1990 (1991): 10-11.
230 “NEH-Funded Brittle Books Microfilming: Harvard’s Contributions,” available from http://preserve.harvard.edu/microfilming/nehprojects.html; Internet; accessed 17 March 2010; “NEH-Funded Brittle Books Microfilming: Cumulative Statistics of Harvard’s Contributions,” available from http://preserve.harvard.edu/pubs/nehstats.pdf; Internet; accessed 17 March 2010.
231 “Roger Stoddard’s Activities,” Harvard Library Bulletin New Series 1, no. 3 (1990): 8.
232 “Among Harvard’s Libraries,” Harvard Library Bulletin 36, no. 4 (1988): 328-331; “Preserving Harvard’s Retrospective Collections: Report of the Harvard University Library Task Group on Collection Preservation Priorities,” Harvard Library Bulletin New Series 2, no. 2 (1991).
233 “Among Harvard’s Libraries,” Harvard Library Bulletin New Series 1, no. 4 (1990-1991): 4.
234 Richard de Gennaro, “Report of the College Librarian,” Harvard University Library Annual Report 1990-1991 (1992): 36.
235 “Among Harvard’s Libraries,” Harvard Library Bulletin New Series 1, no. 4 (1990-1991): 4.