F_Evidence_5

Final Project:  Preservation

LIBR 259

Lisa Crow

5/15/2014

Preservation Management Worksheet

1.      What does the institution consider its most serious preservation problems?  What are the institution’s goals for the preservation survey?

The collection is a circulation collection, so the most prevalent preservation problems are, 1) wear and tear, and 2) patron-caused damage. Damage may also be caused by poor handling during transit between libraries for patron requests.

2.      What steps have been taken to prolong the life of the collections?  Include efforts such as upgrading supplies and storage materials, improving environmental conditions, conservation treatment, or microfilming.

The library employs a theft deterrent device (“tattle tape”). In addition, some staff members have received training in repairing materials. In-service training on packing materials for shipment to other libraries to prevent or reduce damage intransit is given periodically.

3.      Does the institution have long-range goals for preservation of its collections? What are they? Is there a written preservation plan? If yes, describe it and indicate what topics it covers.  Include a copy in the survey notebook.  

There are no long term goals for preservation at this time.

4.      Are the institution’s senior administrators and trustees aware of preservation needs and committed to the protection of the collections?

The administrators are indeed aware and committed the preservation and protection of the collection. Because this is a branch of the county library system, the collection’s value lies in its materials’ usability and suitability fr circulation. Therefore, individual items are not necessarily preserved, but the integrity f the collection itself is maintained by repairing what can be repaired and replacing what cannot.

5.      Is there a program of preservation education for trustees, administrators, staff, and/or the public? What does it include?  

There is no official program of preservation education except what has been previously stated, however the Friends of the Library do sponsor programs throughout the year and library material care is usually included in at least one story time or program a month.

6.      Does the institution have a budget line item devoted to preservation of the collection(s) being surveyed? If not, are some funds devoted to preservation purposes?

While there are no funds specifically allocated for preservation purposes, the system supports preservation of materials to keep them in circulation. Anything which cannot be repaired in-house is sent to County Library Headquarters. If repairs are impossible, then items can be replaced (Title Replacement Policy is attached)

a.      In either case, how and for what purposes are these funds allocated? Indicate the approximate level of annual expenditures for specific activities (e.g., microfilming, archival supplies).

b.      What is the source of these funds (e.g., regular budget line, grants, gifts)?

Services and Supplies (“S&S”) allocates a certain amount of money once a year to each branch of the county library system to purchase non-budget items. The amount if these funds is usually relative to the size of the Branch. This branch usually uses some S&S money to purchase materials display and storage units, plastic books covers, and other repair materials.

7.      How does the institution administer preservation activities? Does one staff member have formal responsibility for preservation activities? Is there a preservation committee? To whom does the staff member or committee report?

All staff members are responsible for examining materials for wear and/or damage. The Library Aides are responsible for simple repair of materials. When this repair activity is not possible, the circulation supervisor determines if the item is to be withdrawn or sent to headquarters for repair.

8.      What preservation activities does the staff member or committee responsible for preservation routinely carry out or supervise (e.g., environmental monitoring, preservation microfilming, rehousing of collections into archival enclosures, disaster planning)? If a committee is used, what preservation responsibilities does each committee member hold?

As stated above, all staff members are responsible for monitoring the condition of the collection, Staff checks material for damage from water or insects and will shift materials to avoid damage to bindings due to too tight a fit on shelf.  The Disaster Plan focusses on evacuating personnel and patrons. There is no disaster plan in place to preserve/conserve materials.

a.      What is the level of preservation knowledge of those responsible for supervising preservation activities? Are they knowledgeable about common forms of damage to library and archival materials, their causes, and potential solutions? Are they aware of (or involved in) preservation activity on the local, state, regional, or national level? What opportunities exist for them to maintain and expand their current knowledge of preservation?

Only one staff member has had the opportunity to attend a book repair and conservation course sponsored by the County,  two staff members are trained to operate the DVD repair  machine, however in-service book repair training is offered online in their spare time (off work hours).

9.      Are staffing and staff training adequate to carry out basic preservation activities and other needed activities for the collections?

Since this is a circulating library, the only preservation staff needs to carry out on the materials is to keep them in circulating condition. The inservice training available is sufficient for that.

10.  Are procedures established to examine the condition of materials in the collections on a regular basis?

As items go through the circulation desk, they are inspected both checking out and checking back in (pages riffled to ensure that none are loose or missing, CDs examined for scratches, audiobooks o CD also inspected and disks counted to ensure that book is compete

10. Are the following issues considered when making decisions about new acquisitions and/or repair, replacement, or conservation treatment:

a.      the relationship of the item to the entire collection?  -- yes (i.e., individual or sequential volumes of a series)

b.      the research, historical, or artifactual importance of the item? N/A

c.       the projected frequency of use?  yes

d.     the length of time the item needs to be retained in the collection? yes

e.      the permanence or durability of the media? no

(Weeding policy is attached as it answers the above set of questions more thoroughly).

General Building Worksheet

1. In what year was the building constructed? __1962_____ Is the building a historic structure? no

2. Have additions or renovations been made to the building? _yes_ If yes, describe them and indicate when they were made.

In 1962, the building was built to be two storefronts. Instead, in 1964, the building’s owner contracted a lease with the county to house the Live Oak branch of the County Library and the wall dividing the two storefronts was removed, opening up the building into one space, although it still has two street numbers attached to its address.

3. Are renovations planned for the building in the future? ___no__ If yes, have preservation concerns been addressed with the architect and engineers?

4. What are the predominant materials used in the construction of the building (e.g. wood frame, masonry, steel and poured concrete)?

painted cinderblock

5. What is the general condition of the building? Has it been well maintained?

The building is in good condition and is maintained by the county of Los Angeles

a.      Is there a regular schedule of inspections and maintenance of the building (e.g., roof, drains, plumbing)? _no, except for the year inspection of the air conditioning units by Los Angeles County Public Library Facilities Management__ If yes, who performs inspections and maintenance, and how often? Is there a written schedule for these activities? If yes, attach a copy. Is an ongoing log of building problems kept?

There is no written schedule; the community library manager (CLM) fills out a job requisition for repairs as needed. There is no formal log except for the three ring binder in which copies completed job requisitions are kept.

b. Is there a history of problems with the building (e.g., roof leaks, pipe leaks, flooding, blown fuses, mold growth)? _yes; there is a history of the roof leaking when it rains. Also, there is asbestos in the building____ If yes, use a separate sheet to describe in detail.

6. What is the condition of the roof and drains?

The roof leaking has been a consistent issue despite repairs and then being replaced.

a.       Is the roof flat or pitched? If it is flat, does water accumulate on the roof?

The roof is flat and water does accumulate and then leaks through the central air conditioning vents

b.      What is the roof covering?  Are there any signs of damage (e.g. cracking, buckling, deteriorated flashings)? How old is the roof? (Most modern roofing materials have an anticipated life-span of no more than 20 years.)

The roof was replaced in 1979. I don’t know and neither did my CLM what material it is made of and the job requisition for its replacement was purged years ago.

c.       How does the roof drain? Are gutters and drains well attached, in good condition, and functioning? Are they cleaned routinely?

The water must reach a certain level before the drains work, however that is how they are designed and they work well, are in good condition and regularly maintained by facilities because of the roof leaking, facilities sends someone out to check them after every rain.

d. Are there skylights? If so, are seals or caulking deteriorated? There are no skylights.

7. What is the structure and condition of the exterior of the building? The building is constructed of cinderblock and the exterior is covered with a masonry façade.

a. Are exterior surfaces and finishes intact (e.g., are shingles missing, is paint blistered or peeling, has mortar deteriorated, are there accretions on masonry that point to water or condensation problems)?

There seem to be no issues with the exterior of the building. No signs of condensation or water accumulation are detectable.

b. Are there cracks in the foundation or other signs of deterioration?

There are no cracks or other signs of deterioration in the foundation of the building.

c. How is the foundation sealed? Do the drains channel water away from the building? Does water accumulate at the foundation?

There is no available information on how the foundation is sealed, but there doesn’t seem to be any problem with leaking or water accumulation.are There no signs of water damage to the outside of the building at all.

8. What is the condition of the interior of the building?

Other than needing the carpet replaced, the interior is in very good condition. The carpet needs to be replaced because it is old and has very poor patch job applied to it.

a.      What are the age and condition of the plumbing system?

The plumbing system is in good shape despite not being replaced since the building was built in 1962

b.      What are the age and condition of the electrical system?

The electrical system is from the original building in 1962, but it was upgraded to accommodate the public computers and Wi-Fi, around 2005.

c.       Does the building have an attic or basement? Are collections stored in these spaces? Are these spaces clean, or cluttered and dirty? Is the basement wet or dry?

The building has neither a basement nor an attic.

d. Is there evidence of water leaks inside the building (e.g., around windows, on interior walls, or on ceilings)?

The ceiling tile around the air condition vents which leak (not all of them do) when it rains show some discoloration

e. Is there any history or evidence of rodents, insects, or mold in the building?

No rodents have been seen in the building, although there have been a couple of small lizards spotted in the adult fiction section of the stacks. There was some evidence of cockroaches, but a staff member witnessed them running out of a patron’s bag at the circulation desk and the exterminator who inspected the building afterward saw no evidence of an infestation. Ants sometimes have a trail across the window sills and have been seen walking across the shelves in the DVD section.

f.        Have there been any problems with condensation within the building?

There have been no problems with condensation within the building.

9. Does anyone else occupy the building in addition to the repository being surveyed? _no_ If yes, what other activities take place in the building and could they pose a hazard to collections?

The building is solely occupied by the library. There are no other activities that take place in the building.

10. Provide a general description of the building’s layout (e.g., number of floors, number and type of rooms on each floor). [It will be helpful to acquire or draw a plan of the building].

A floor plan of the library is attached.

11. Indicate on the plan all areas where collections are stored within the building. Also indicate the locations of water pipes, bathrooms, climate control equipment, and any other sources of water in relation to collections storage.

12. Is there a shortage of collections storage space in the building? _yes____ If yes, what has been done to address this problem?

There is a shortage of space to store and shelve the collection. Aggressive weeding has been employed to alleviate his problem and materials sent to other branches for their collections.

Worksheet For Mixed Collections

Name of Collection: ___Los Angeles County Library --- Live Oak Branch_________ _____________________________ Location: ___Arcadia, California     ____________

1. Briefly describe the environmental conditions where the collection is stored:

2. What types of objects are in the collection (check all that apply, and indicate amounts and general condition for each category)?

 __N/A__Rare books

__1__Historical reference books

 __23__Oversize books

 _N/A___Record/ledger books

 _N/A___Scrapbooks

 __N/A__Pamphlets

 __N/A__Manuscripts

__N/A__Documents

_N/A___Photocopied documents

 _N/A___Photographs

_N/A___Negatives

 N/A____Newspapers (Current editions saved up to one week only)

 _N/A___Maps

 _N/A___Architectural drawings

__N/A__Art on paper

3. What type of furniture is the collection stored in/on?

The collection is shelved on wooden shelves. The oversize books are shelved on a metal library cart. The historical reference book is a three inch three-ring binder containing carbon copies of correspondence between the CLM of the Live Oak Library and the County Library Board of Trustees dating from 1954 until 1980. It also contains newspaper clippings and carbon copies of Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes concerning this branch of the County Library dating from 1954 through 1980. This binder is located on a wooden shelf in the staff workroom with other binders containing old job requisitions and obsolete operation manuals, reams of copy paper, labels, and printer ink cartridges.

4. Are the books/boxes/objects in the collection generally well supported? Are the materials crowded on the shelves, are boxes filled too full?

The books in the collection are well-supported. Constant shifting and weeding ensures that materials do not become crowded.

5. What types of enclosures are in the collection (e.g., type of boxes, neutral/buffered enclosures, manila envelopes, manila folders)?

The circulating materials are not enclosed in any containers. Withdrawn books being stored in anticipation of Friends of the Library book sale are stored in cardboard shipment boxes.

6. Are damaging fasteners (e.g., rubber bands, paperclips) used in the collection? Where?

There are no paperclips or staples used in the collection, however, rubber bands are used on books when being repaired or when placed in shipment boxes to be placed in transit.

7. What is the general condition of the collection? Indicate any specific objects that appear to be particularly important and fragile/damaged)

 __X__Wear and tear

__X__Soil and surface dirt

 __X__Water stains

 _N/A___Acid damage (e.g., yellowing, browning, embrittlement, deteriorated ink)

_N/A___Light damage (e.g., fading, discoloration, embrittlement)

 __X__Damage to book covers or bindings (e.g., red rot, damaged spines, abraded edges or corners, detached boards, loose or broken hinges, damaged stitching or other attachment structure, deteriorated adhesive)

__N/A__Evidence of mold, rodent, or insect damage

 _X___Evidence of poor handling or vandalism (e.g., torn endcaps, torn or missing pages, graffiti,)

__X__Other:  It must be noted that the damage indicated by an “X” is either repaired, sent to headquarters for repair, or withdrawn from the collection

8. How frequently is this collection used? Will it be used more frequently in future?

__X__Heavy (frequent exhibit, research, or education use)

 ____Medium (occasional exhibit or research use)

____Low (permanent storage, handled infrequently)

9. Will objects or areas of the collection be severely damaged by further handling? Should these be removed from public use or reformatted for research use?

Since this is a circulating library, its value is in patrons being able to handle items.

10. Recommendations for preservation:

__X__Move collection or modify environment

____Rehouse into archival enclosures

____Phase box/book box

 __X__Reformat

____Conservator evaluation needed

____Other

The only material which is a candidate for preservation beyond suitability for circulation is the binder of archival materials relating to the library branch. I would recommend that a display case be purchased during the next cycle of S&S and the items be removed from binder and placed inside. Care should be given so that the case and its contents are not exposed to too much light.

In the interest of preserving the longevity of circulating materials, I would recommend that the windows be treated with an additional UV filtering film. I would also recommend that the VHS tapes be replaced or reformatted to DVD format since the format is fragile; most of the losses in this library are broken, damaged or accidental magnetic erasure of VHS tapes.

Attachments:

A.    Weeding Policy

B.     Library Floor Plan

C.     Title Replacement Policy