Many people are fascinated by the conservation related activities, and I am often asked questions like ‘Why is it necessary to clean the books and documents?’ or ‘Doesn’t the dust and dirt add to the mystique and sense of history I associate with libraries and archives?’ People’s perceptions of old books and manuscripts go together with accepting or even expecting to see decades or centuries of dust.
Unfortunately handling dirty books or documents can, not only be unpleasant but may trigger allergic reactions in sensitized users. Keeping media clean not only prolongs its useful life, it also ensures the health and safety of the user.
So what exactly makes up the dirt and dust found in libraries and archives and sometimes in or on the collections? It will undoubtedly comprise of skin cells, hair, textile fibres (from human traffic) together with pollens, mould spores, pest detritus and other organic matter such as degraded leather dust known as ‘red rot’. Inorganic matter such as paint particles, mortar and brick dust will also be present.
Library and archival media are made from organic materials which degrade over time, add this to poor handling or storage and inappropriate cleaning methods and the media breaks down, eventually turning it to dust.
The Preventive conservation cleaning team carefully clean books and archival documents individually by hand, using soft brushes, microfilament cloths, smoke sponges and a variety of museum vacuum cleaners. The team also use ‘Bassaire’ document workstations, which are fitted with pre and Hepa filters, the machines suck dust, dirt, and mould spores down and away from the media and the operator.
Cleaning surface dust from larger collections of books that are in a good condition is carried out using the ‘Depulvera’ book-cleaning machine. Books are fed into the machine from one end, are carried along a series of drive belts, passing against revolving brushes that remove dust, the books are retrieved at the opposite end, loaded onto trolleys and returned to clean shelving units.
The work that the team performs is a vital part of ensuring the long-term preservation of the collections together with its sustainable access and use.