Virgin Islands libraries and librarians recently got a valuable new tool in their efforts to preserve and protect the territory’s historic archives and collections in the form of books and online resources with the latest, state of the art conservation methods.
The Caribbean Collection at the Florence Williams Public Library on St. Croix and the von Scholten Collection at Enid M. Baa Public Library and Archives on St. Thomas were given the ‘Connecting to Collections Bookshelf," a core set of 25-30 conservation books that accompany extensive online resources. The collection was given by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History.
"Having these materials in place here is a valuable resource for us," said Ingrid Bough, director of the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums this week. "It will help librarians and others who face a real situation: What do I do if there is fire damage, or water damage or something has happened, what can I do right away to preserve the damaged materials and prevent more loss? This gives us emergency guides for field response so it is a very great resource."
The set of materials chosen by IMLS focuses on collections typically found in art or history museums and in libraries’ special collections. It addresses such topics as the philosophy and ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness, and culturally specific conservation issues. IMLS is donating the set of conservation materials to libraries all over the U.S. as part of a conservation initiative it launched in 2006.
“These resources will be invaluable tools as the division … continues to formulate a strategic plan for the conservation and preservation of collections held throughout the territory,” said Bough.
IMLS is the primary source of federal support for 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums in the U.S. More information about IMLS is at their website: www.imls.gov. and you can find more information about the territory’s public libraries at www.virginislandspubliclbraries.org.