Building Preservation: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign s Stacks Assessment
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Building Preservation 211
Building Preservation: The University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s
Stacks Assessment
Thomas H. Teper and Stephanie S. Atkins
This article discusses the results of two collection assessments conducted
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The library’s Preserva-
tion Committee completed the first assessment and reported its results in
College & Research Libraries in 1989. The second assessment was com-
pleted in 2002 and accompanies the institution’s initiative to establish the
library’s first centralized preservation and conservation program. Both as-
sessments focused on the central stacks collection, a repository collection
serving the institution’s forty-two branch and departmental libraries. Although
a reanalysis of the first assessment’s data was impossible, the authors
attempted to draw comparisons between the two assessments’ results. Af-
ter thirteen years without a preservation program and without any signifi-
cant facilities improvements, the results provide insight into the results of
deferred collections care and facilities maintenance and offer guidance for
conducting similar studies with other research library collections.
ince the publication of the sur- than fifty years.2 Written thirty years af-
vey results from Stanford ter Barrow published his research, the
University’s Green Library in authors in Illinois indicated that the real-
1982, the library preservation ity of this prediction was becoming “pain-
community has come to rely on collection fully obvious” to librarians and other cul-
assessments as a means of learning about tural resource managers.3 Indeed, the
the physical state of library and archival 1989 survey’s results indicated that 37
collections.1 In 1989, the University of Il- percent of the collection suffered from
linois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) pub- serious deterioration, 33.6 percent from
lished the results of its own assessment— moderate deterioration, and 29.4 percent
Library Collection Deterioration: A Study of from no significant deterioration.4
the University of Illinois at Urbana- Although an assessment does not pro-
Champaign. In the introduction, the au- vide concrete data about each and every
thors cited William Barrow’s assertion volume, a properly planned and con-
that many of the twentieth century’s pub- ducted assessment provides a preserva-
lished books may have a shelf life of less tion administrator with the means to de-
Thomas H. Teper is the Head of Preservation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; e-mail:
tteper@uiuc.edu. Stephanie S. Atkins is the Assistant Circulation and Bookstacks Librarian at the Uni-
versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; e-mail: ssatkins@uiuc.edu. The authors wish to thank and ac-
knowledge the Research and Publication Committee of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Library, which provided support for the completion of this research.
211212 College & Research Libraries May 2003
velop a better understanding of an reality that became painfully obvious to
institution’s collections. Indeed, operat- many of the institution’s librarians in 1989
ing under the assumption that preserva- has been compounded by thirteen years
tion funds must be targeted at the areas of additional acquisition and deteriora-
of greatest need, the value of an assess- tion. At the time of the 1989 assessment,
ment in the initial planning of preserva- the central stacks collection held roughly
tion activities and those expenditures is 5.3 million volumes. Thirteen years and
still of paramount importance for maxi- almost 500,000 additional volumes later,
mizing expenditures. Brian J. Baird and the current assessment evaluates possible
colleagues recently reiterated this point comparisons between the two data pools
in a report on surveys conducted at the and quantifies the collection’s physical
University of Kansas: condition as the library launches a new
preservation and conservation program.
One of the greatest challenges fac-
ing academic and research libraries UIUC Library and Its Collections
today is the preservation of collec- The University of Illinois at Urbana-
tions. The majority of materials Champaign library is nationally and in-
housed in research libraries are ternationally renowned for the depth and
unique and irreplaceable. Unfortu- breadth of its collections. Its specialized
nately, the number of these items collections are dispersed among forty-two
needing treatment far exceeds the departmental libraries, more than twenty
availability of resources. Therefore, of which are located within the main li-
libraries must carefully evaluate brary building. Currently, the library’s
their collections and use that infor- total collections number nearly 10 million
mation to develop proactive preser- volumes and 22 million pieces.
vation plans.5 With approximately 5.8 million vol-
umes, the central stacks collection is the
Spurred by a growth in professional single largest repository in the campus
interest in preservation, the University of library system. As collections of currently
Illinois began to investigate various acquired material grow, departmental li-
means of addressing preservation needs braries transfer older and seldom-used
throughout the library in the late 1970s titles into the stacks. As a result, the stacks
and completed a report in 1980. Another contain the most diversified and oldest
body of individuals completed a state- circulating materials in the library.
wide analysis project in 1986.6 Despite this Unlike many of its peer institutions,
preparatory work, preservation within UIUC has maintained a closed stack sys-
both the state of Illinois and the Univer- tem, granting access only to faculty,
sity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s li- graduate students, and a limited number
brary failed to make the headway that it of undergraduates. The result is a circu-
did at other institutions, headway that can lation model in which many patrons re-
be seen in the publication of reports from quest items, while staff retrieve and re-
many institutions completing the Asso- shelve them.
ciation of Research Libraries’ Preservation
Planning Program and the continued de- The Central Stacks Collection and
velopment of preservation programs at Collection Maintenance
many of these institutions.7 For many years, the library’s administra-
Although preservation programs be- tion focused primarily on amassing its
came almost commonplace in many uni- unique and valuable collection more than
versities and, to a more limited extent, on the collection’s condition or mainte-
colleges, UIUC’s library was unable to nance. With the notable exception of li-
develop and maintain a comprehensive brary binding, rare books and special col-
preservation program. As a result, the lections received most availableBuilding Preservation 213
preservation and conservation funds. tiple stacks leaks in 2001–2002. In addi-
Browsing through the stacks, it is evident tion, poor air circulation, accumulated
that the collection is showing signs of sig- dust, and insect infestations have all left
nificant deterioration. The stacks office their marks on various parts of the col-
staff stabilized materials, when possible, lections.
using boxes and pamphlet binders; and The collection’s impressive growth in
the library’s small book repair and pam- the second half of the twentieth century
phlet-binding unit followed suit when- has created another significant problem—
ever requested. However, the number of overcrowding. In many areas, the
items needing attention exceeded the collection’s growth has exceeded its
staff’s ability to keep pace with the level shelving capacity to such an extent that
of need. books are stacked on the floor in aisles.
The staff also faces the downside of Presently, the library is in the process of
such comprehensive collection building; building a high-density shelving facility
the depth and breadth result in large col- to alleviate the overcrowding. In prepa-
lections of non-Western material and sig- ration for this, the library’s administra-
nificant collections of semi-ephemeral tion imposed a moratorium on all depart-
material. Consequently, the stacks hold mental library transfers into the central
the bulk of the library’s aging collections stacks collection, a move that alleviated
and the most significant holdings of ma- some pressure on the stacks but added
terials that continue to be produced on significant pressure to the various branch
acidic paper—Eastern European, African, and departmental libraries.
and Latin American materials.
The stacks’ poor storage conditions The Stacks Collection and the
exacerbate the problem of aging collec- Assessment
tions and acidic paper.8 Built in 1926, the The central stacks collection consists of
original building and most of its subse- monographs, bound periodicals, and a
quent additions lack basic air-condition- collection of 82,000 microforms. The mi-
ing and humidity controls. In air-condi- croform collection resides in an environ-
tioned portions of the stacks, tempera- mentally controlled room and has re-
tures generally remain relatively stable cently received some collection
despite the lack of operational reheat sys- maintenance by re-housing a significant
tems. However, those portions not air- portion of the collection. Special formats
conditioned often experience extreme such as audiovisual materials and digital
fluctuations in temperature and humid- media are not material types represented
ity, with ranges from around 60° to well in the collection.
over 80°F and humidity fluctuations be- The assessment’s focus was guided by
tween the 30 percent range to over 70 per- that of the 1989 assessment. In keeping
cent in various parts of the building. The with the 1989 assessment, specialized col-
combination of high ambient temperature lections located within the stacks’ physi-
and humidity has resulted in periodic cal space were excluded. For example, the
mold outbreaks. Significant, documented stacks’ microform collection was not in-
mold blooms affected the central stacks cluded nor were the government docu-
collection in 1993 and the Rare Book ments collections or the Asian library.
Room’s collection from 1981 to 1987. Similarly, the assessment excluded un-
The collection also faces the results of bound periodical titles. This is in keep-
decades of campuswide deferred facili- ing with the protocol established by other
ties maintenance. Periodic roof and foun- assessments.9 Finally, the assessment ex-
dation leaks led to limited flooding and cluded a brittle book backlog of roughly
subsequent mold outbreaks, including a 6,000 British and American periodical
significant mold bloom in the Rare Book volumes and monographs dating back to
Room during the spring of 2001 and mul- the early nineteenth century.214 College & Research Libraries May 2003 Why an Assessment? stitution with no opportunity to reevalu- Beginning with the publication of ate the original sample. For instance, the Stanford University’s assessment of 1989 assessment defined only three levels Green Library in 1982 and proceeding of condition—good, moderate, and poor— until the present, preservation assess- for the paper, binding, and boards (table ments proved themselves a valuable 1). The new assessment enabled the library method of informing preservation admin- to document the condition of the collec- istrators and collection managers about tion and to begin the process of thoroughly their collections’ condition and enabled analyzing needs. them to plan their preservation program’s development.10 An assessment permits an Project Hypothesis institution to identify needs and priori- To ensure the maximum level of objectiv- ties and provides justification for re- ity, the assistant circulation and sources. bookstacks librarian and the head of pres- The authors chose an assessment us- ervation discussed any preconceptions ing random sampling for four primary they held about the collection based on reasons. First, this enabled some level of their knowledge of the stacks and their comparison between the results of the understanding of the information gath- 1989 assessment and data gathered thir- ered by the 1989 assessment. As with the teen years later. Second, because the cen- Stanford University assessment pub- tral stacks collection represents the larg- lished in 1982, the data from UIUC’s ini- est and oldest circulating collection in the tial assessment reported in College & Re- library system, assessing this population search Libraries employed a system of offered the opportunity to learn about a weighing certain elements of an item’s significant portion of the library’s collec- condition in an effort to score overall item tions. condition.11 Although this model was ef- Third, the imminent construction of a fective for gathering the general collec- high-density shelving facility on campus tion-wide data needed at the time, the influenced the decision to assess the cen- sample-level data from 1989 were lost. tral stacks collection. The facility’s first Because a direct comparison with the phase will house two million volumes, 1989 UIUC study was impossible, the 100,000 of which are initially being se- authors designed the new assessment lected from the stacks. This process means with the purpose of gathering data that that the stacks will no longer exist as cur- were more specific. However, the 1989 rently conceived; in essence, the stacks’ assessment did lead the authors to hy- current repository function will diminish. pothesize that roughly one third of the Consequently, the authors perceived this collection would exhibit signs of signifi- to be the last opportunity to conduct such cant damage, one third would exhibit an assessment. Moreover, assessing the signs of mild to moderate damage, and central stacks collection will give collec- tion managers and administrators an idea of overall condition before relocating the TABLE 1 materials. Paper, Binding, And Board and Finally, the authors strongly believed Cover Condition as Reported in the that a second, more thorough stacks assess- 1989 UIUC Assessment ment would be invaluable for long-range preservation planning. Although the 1989 Paper Binding Board assessment produced useful data about the and Cover overall state of the central stacks collection, Good 32.0% 70.8% 49.7% no data remained pertaining to the indi- Moderate 31.0% 24.5% 41.9% vidual pieces surveyed. Instead, only the Poor 37.0% 4.7% 8.3% compiled data remained, leaving the in-
Building Preservation 215
the remainder would show no significant estimate of the population was not nec-
signs of damage. Although this is their essary before beginning the assessment.
hypothesis, the authors also understood Consequently, the next step in this project
that multiple factors could have changed was to determine the sample size required
this: (1) an increase in the percentage of to provide the desired level of accuracy.
material published on acid-free paper, (2) Rather than using statistical sampling
patrons’ increased usage of electronic re- tables, the AZPlanSite provided a calcu-
sources, (3) the creation of a separate lator that automatically calculated sample
brittle book backlog, and (4) the impact sizes based on collection size, maximum
of air-conditioning on a significant por- acceptable margin of error, and degree of
tion of the collection. confidence desired.12
At the recommendation of a statistician
Statistical Methodology with the campus’s Survey Research Lab,
Confidence and Tolerance the authors chose to ensure that each deck
Using proper sampling methodology, a within the stacks had thirty items ran-
sample of the collection will reasonably domly chosen for the study. This sugges-
estimate the characteristics of any popu- tion ensured an adequate representation
lation within a certain margin of error. A of the discrete populations within the col-
confidence level of 95 percent and a tol- lection, a situation that stems from the
erance level of ±5 percent were acceptable central stacks collection’s physical ar-
for this study. This requires a sample size rangement into seventeen distinct decks.
of 385 items. This means, for example, that As mentioned earlier, some decks hold
if 32 percent of the books are brittle, the collections that are administratively sepa-
authors are 95 percent certain that the ac- rate from the central stacks collections,
tual percentage of brittle books is between resulting in the exclusion of three decks
27 and 37 percent. The earlier survey of from the sample. Two half-decks were
the stacks used the same confidence and combined into one, as they contained ex-
tolerance levels in its assessment, provid- actly half the number of ranges as the full
ing a basis for comparison between the decks. Thus, the sample assessment con-
results of the two surveys. Moreover, one sisted of thirteen decks.
downside of a higher level of confidence Initially, the authors wanted to base the
is the significant increase in the number number of samples per deck on the deck’s
of items sampled. For example, an in- approximate collection size. Unfortu-
crease from 95 to 99 percent requires a nately, determining the exact number of
nearly 72 percent increase in the number items for each deck was impossible. The
of items sampled—a significant expense stacks have undergone neither a complete
relative to the data’s potential use for gen- inventory nor a full retrospective conver-
erating broad-based information. De- sion. Moreover, overcrowding is so severe
creasing the tolerance level by one per- in some spaces that books are stacked on
cent increments also would require large the floor. Consequently, it is difficult to
increases in the sample size: 56 percent estimate accurately the number of items
increase for ±4 percent; 177 percent in- located on each deck. With all these limi-
crease for ±3 percent; and 524 percent in- tations known, the statistician recom-
crease for ±2 percent. This will greatly mended that selecting a certain number
increase the precision of the results, but, of items per deck would suffice. Thirty
once again, the expense would exceed items per deck would be analyzed,
what additional information the authors achieving a sample size of 390 items. This
can gain by a lower tolerance level. sample size provides a confidence and
tolerance of 95 percent ±5 percent.
Sampling Method To locate items within the collection, the
As sample sizes do not increase for popu- authors used Microsoft Excel’s random
lations over 50,000, a completely accurate number generator to provide a single num-216 College & Research Libraries May 2003
ber that corresponded to each range within have been made in this area, these condi-
the stacks. Three numbers were generated tions could make a difference in the col-
to locate each column and each shelf. Six lections housed here.
numbers were generated for each book. • The number of columns and
Variations in the number of columns, shelves varies depending on book size.
shelves, and books per shelf necessitated The folio cabinets have fewer columns
the generation of multiple numbers. These and shelves than standard regular ranges.
provided a backup for locating items when Thus, they likely constitute a higher num-
there was no corresponding column, shelf, ber of rejections. The original assessment
or book. Student employees received fifty used a similar method to generate ran-
samples each and instructions to stop dom numbers, and the authors chose to
when they had analyzed thirty books on duplicate the process, recognizing that the
each deck. These additional samples en- results may not reflect exactly how many
sured that rejects due to insufficient col- items in the collection are folios.
umns, shelves, and books per shelf would
not interfere with sampling the necessary Work Flow, Labor Management, and
number of items per deck. Instruction
The assistant circulation and bookstacks
Biases librarian hired five student employees to
Although the authors made every effort conduct the study. At the time, it was not
to include as much of the collection as feasible to reallocate central circulation
possible within the sample, the necessary and preservation staff to work on the
exclusion of certain collection materials study. Instead, funding opportunities
means that some biases exist in the study. were available from sources within the
• A 6,000-volume brittle book back- library to use student employees for re-
log was not considered within the assess- search projects, and the authors received
ment. a grant to hire students for the study.
• No satisfactory manner was de- In preparation for the project, the stu-
vised to include the books currently dents were required to attend a single
stacked on the floor. The authors gave sig- training program consisting of an over-
nificant consideration to these view of the project’s goals, an introduction
“nonrespondents.” Consultation with a to book construction, and a discussion of
statistician produced no better solution assessment techniques and methods.
than including these materials within a Through a Microsoft PowerPoint presen-
broad category of biases.13 tation, images illustrated a variety of dif-
• The number of shelving units var- ferent types of cover and paper damage,
ied depending on the deck, ranging from as well as some basic binding information.
229 to 387. Because the same number of Each student received a copy of the
samples was set for each deck, the mate- PowerPoint presentation for reference.
rials on the decks with the lowest num- This portion of the workshop concluded
ber of ranges had a greater probability of with the students analyzing books and
selection than did materials on decks with presenting their findings to the other stu-
the highest number of ranges. However, dents. This hands-on exercise provided an
this method guaranteed sampling from opportunity to test what they learned and
all portions of the collection. enabled the authors to emphasize and
• Most of the collections reside in clarify certain details.
portions of the stacks without air-condi- The workshop included a tour of the
tioning. However, the newest, high-den- stacks to familiarize the students with their
sity addition to the stacks does receive arrangement and the method for locating
central air. Nearly 45 percent of the items materials using maps and the random
sampled came from the decks in this ad- numbers. At the end of the tour, the assis-
dition. Although shifting and additions tant circulation and bookstacks librarianBuilding Preservation 217 gave each student a set of random num- The Assessment Results bers and a map and instructed the students In the most basic terms, the results from to find the correct book on the deck. Only the first assessment corroborated those one student out of five had trouble find- provided by the second assessment. In ing the correct book on the shelf, and after terms of brittleness, 35.64 percent of the a thorough explanation, the librarian was pieces sampled in 2002 exhibited some satisfied that the students had a good grasp degree of embrittlement, as opposed to of how to use the random number sets and 37 percent in 1989. Similarly, 29.2 percent the maps. On the random sample form, the of those pieces sampled in 1989 suffered students noted the reason why a random from moderate or poor binding condi- number set was rejected (e.g., insufficient tions. 14 In 2002, those with detached number of books on the shelf). The librar- boards, loose hinges, tears, or missing ian reviewed the reasons for each rejection covers accounted for 24.88 percent of the to ensure that no sets were discarded in collection. Given the tolerance of ±5%, the error. data initially suggested no significant dif- Instruction did not end with the work- ferences between the populations. shop and tour. The students regularly As noted earlier, the current assess- communicated with the authors and ment was divided into four basic sections: asked a variety of questions, ranging from a brief examination of publication infor- finding the date of publication to identi- mation, an examination of the binding, fying types of damage. The authors also an assessment of any enclosures, and an reviewed completed forms and discov- assessment of the text block that focused ered that the students had a good eye for on damage to the pages. detail. However, some students were ini- tially too quick to note damage when Publication Information none was present. The authors spoke to To develop a better understanding of the the students to clarify differences (i.e., collection, the assessment gathered data yellowed paper versus the natural color about the publications’ bibliographic his- of the paper) and the students corrected tory. This included data on the relative their forms. In total, the students took size, date, and place of publication. eighty-three hours to analyze 390 books, averaging thirteen minutes per book. For Size books that the students required consul- Of the 390 pieces examined, 79.23 percent tation to complete, the assessment process of the collection was of a standard size, took longer than thirteen minutes, but for measuring less than ten and a half inches books with minimal or no damage, stu- and over six inches in height. This is equal dents needed only a few minutes to fill to nearly 4.6 million volumes from the out the form. One of the reasons why the entire collection of nearly 5.8 million students were efficient in assessing the pieces. Undersized material equaled 2.82 books was that all of their samples were percent of the collection, and oversized on two to four decks. The students be- material equaled 15.9 percent. Another came intimately familiar with the layout 2.05 percent of the pieces reflected folios and peculiarities of their assigned decks requiring flat shelving.15 and were able to navigate with ease. When all forms were completed, a stu- Date of Publication dent entered the data from the assessment As one would expect with such a repre- into a relational database. The preserva- sentative sampling method, a year-by- tion librarian examined the forms for dis- year analysis of publication dates yields crepancies or typos before the data were little substantive data about the entire inputted into the database. After being collection. However, analyzing the data entered, the data again were reviewed for by decade of publication does present an possible errors or omissions. interesting illustration of both the
218 College & Research Libraries May 2003
TABLE 2
collection’s development and composi-
Date of Publication as Reported
tion. Although a separate project began
in the 2002 Assessment
isolating those items in the central stacks
collection published before 1800, the as-
Category % of Total
sessment indicates that nearly 74,202 vol-
umes were published before the begin-
ning of the nineteenth century. As part of Pre- 1800 1.28
the selection for high-density shelving, 18011810 0.26
rare book and special collections librar- 18111820 0.51
ian is reviewing early imprints for trans- 18211830 0.26
fer to the Rare Book Room. 18311840 0.51
18411850 0.26
18511860 1.03
The collection’s growth from 1870 on-
18611870 0.77
ward appears to be almost unchecked
18711880 1.28
(table 2). Until 1980, its rate of growth in-
18811890 1.03
creased nearly every decade with the ex-
18911900 2.05
ceptions of the decades 1881–1890 and
19011910 3.85
1941–1950. The first of these decades fol-
19111920 4.87
lows a period of economic depression in
19211930 5.13
the early 1870s and actually precedes the
19311940 8.46
depression that accompanied discussions
19411950 8.21
about abandoning the gold standard in
19511960 10.51
1890. The second decade encompasses the
19611970 13.85
Second World War. Whether either of these
19711980 16.15
periods of diminished growth can be di-
19811990 9.23
rectly attributed to diminishing resources
19912000 8.21
or decreasing book production is unlikely.
2001Present 0.51
However, it is likely that both played a role.
Unknown 1.79
From 1981 to the present, the rate of
growth appears to have declined. How-
ever, the system comprises forty-two sub-
ject and departmental libraries. With the Place of Publication
exception of Slavic and Eastern European, Predictably, North American publica-
Latin American, and European blanket tions constitute the largest single por-
orders, many core titles and the most cur- tion of the collection, as shown in table
rent acquisitions are not sent to the cen- 3. At 42.82 percent, this represents
tral stacks collection. Consequently, the nearly 2.5 million volumes. This is
vast bulk of volumes acquired since 1981 closely followed by the combined
are still housed in departmental libraries, weight of roughly two million Western
meaning that the significant drop in col- European volumes and nearly three-
lection breadth during this period does quarters of a million Eastern European
not necessarily indicate a decline in the volumes. The most surprising result is
breadth of the overall collection. that 4.1 percent of the sampled volumes
The collection of material published in trace their origin to India or other parts
the decades before the university’s incor- of Asia. The Asian library is one of the
poration in 1867 is more difficult to gener- few libraries that does not transfer col-
alize. Lower numbers of these items within lections into the stacks; however, many
the stacks resulted in lower populations for other libraries purchase materials pub-
each of these decades. For example, imprint lished in these areas and include them
dates from the first three-quarters of the within their collections. Moreover,
nineteenth century indicate that the collec- many of these items are received
tion ranges from lows of 14,864 volumes to through the PL480 program and the
highs of 74,321 volumes per decade. Farmington Plan.Building Preservation 219
TABLE 4
Binding Information
Binding Style
Binding Style as Reported in
2002 Assessment
Examination of the binding styles focused
on determining which of eight choices
Category Number % of Total
best characterized the type of binding rep-
resented by each piece. In general, the
definitions were clear to most of the stu- Publishers cloth 123 31.54
Library binding 169 43.33
Softcover 47 12.05
dent employees. The one area that re-
Velobind/comb 3 0.77
quired some additional definition was the
Spiral 0 0.00
relationship between library binding and
Pamphlet binder 34 8.72
leather binding. For the purposes of this
Other binding 8 2.05
assessment, a library binding consisted of
Vellum binding 0 0.00
any binding performed by a binder after
Leather 5 1.28
the library had purchased the piece. These
Unbound 1 0.26
items ranged from early quarter- and half-
bound pieces with marbled boards to con-
temporary library bindings. A leather- Total 390 100.00
bound volume was a volume bound
entirely in leather presumed to have been
sold in that binding and generally mono- lection exhibited some signs of damage,
graphic in nature. With 43.33 percent of including one or more of the following
its collection library bound, 1.28 percent conditions: detached boards (3.33%),
of its material in full leather, and less than loose hinges (13.33%), tears (9.23%), and
a third of the collection in an original no boards or covers whatsoever (2.56%).
publisher’s cloth binding, these results In terms of pure numbers, this means that
suggest that the library has relied heavily approximately 341,447 items suffer from
on library binding as both a management either missing or detached boards.
and maintenance tool (table 4). When compared to the 29.2 percent of
items indicated as exhibiting poor or
External Cover Damage: Hinges and moderate binding condition in the 1989
Mechanical Construction assessment, it is interesting to note that
An examination of the mechanical con- the items currently suffering from de-
struction of the volumes’ covers indicated tached and missing boards vary from the
that 24.88 percent ±5 percent of the col- original data by only 4.32 percent, within
the margin of error outlined by the ear-
TABLE 3
lier assessment. Similarly, the combined
Place of Publication as Reported
percentages of those covers with tears and
in the 2002 Assessment
loose hinges equal 22.56 percent of the
collection. In the 1989 assessment, 24.5
Category % of Total Total
percent of the bindings exhibited “mod-
Pieces
erate damage.”16
N. Amer. 42.82 2,482,305 External Cover Damage: Other Damage
L. Amer. 6.67 386,665 Another component of the assessment
W. Europe 33.59 1,947,236 was damage to the cover of a piece. Any
E. Europe 12.56 728,112 item with visible cover damage, such as
India 1.79 103,768 water damage, warped and misshapen
Africa 0.26 15,072 boards, light bleaching, staining, and in-
Aus/NZ 0.00 0 sect damage, was counted as one with
Asia 2.31 133,912 external cover damage. The total percent-
Total 100.00 5,797,070 age of sampled items without any visible
external damage of this type is 43.59 per-220 College & Research Libraries May 2003
cent. Examination of the other types of indicates that roughly 16.15 percent of the
visible damage indicates that there are collection is misshapen. This translates
some significant problems with materi- into 936,227 pieces permanently marred
als and their storage environment. Two through mishandling, poor stewardship,
areas of particular concern are materials and overcrowding. When simultaneously
suffering from combinations of visible calculated with those items that are both
water damage, staining, and misshapen scratched and misshapen, 4.1 percent of
covers and materials exhibiting signifi- the collection, or approximately 237,680
cant abrasion. pieces, exhibits this type of compound
In general, the quantity of items with damage.
both water damage and staining is high.
Approximately 3.59 percent of the mate- Extraneous Material
rials sampled are water damaged or The amount of extraneous material asso-
stained. Although this percentage does ciated with the covers of sampled items
not sound excessive, it does indicate that is relatively low. In general, it is reassur-
roughly 208,115 pieces have been exposed ing to see that few pieces received im-
to leaks, spills, accidents, or other mis- proper repairs using adhesive or cloth
haps in their history. This damage may tape. In this case, the lack of regular care
have happened while the pieces were in has proved itself a benefit in terms of
departmental libraries or in circulation or long-term care. The total number of items
before they became a part of the library’s with tape or other extraneous material
collections; however, it does indicate that applied to the cover total only 4.36 per-
facilities problems and care and handling cent.
issues are taking their toll.
Although multiple mold outbreaks Enclosure Information
have occurred within the stacks, some In general, the assessment produced very
affecting several deck levels simulta- little information about the enclosures
neously, none of the sampled materials present throughout the collection. Indeed,
exhibited visible evidence of external only one piece of the 390 sampled had any
mold damage. There are a couple of pos- type of enclosure. It was a phase box, and
sible explanations for this potential dis- it, incidentally, suffered from some minor
crepancy. Cleaning projects followed sev- damage itself. This figure represents 0.26
eral of the mold outbreaks. Moreover, percent of the collection, or 15,072 vol-
some pieces may have been damaged to umes.
such an extent that they were rebound, At first glance, this low number may
resulting in no visible signs of damage to indicate that few pieces actually need this
the cover. Another explanation is that the type of enclosure; however, the small
students did not assess the damage cor- number of enclosures also can reflect two
rectly and mistook dormant mold for dirt very different conclusions. As mentioned
or other debris. Because no systematic earlier, the “storage collection” was not
cleaning of the stacks has taken place, included in the sampled pieces. It repre-
items with mold may not be easily iden- sents a backlog of severely embrittled
tifiable from other dusty volumes. Finally, pieces. This collection ceased growing in
some items marked as stained may, in the mid-1990s. Consequently, it is likely
fact, be showing signs of mold damage. that a significant portion of the collection
The other area of concern is the quan- that should have been boxed was put into
tity of misshapen pieces. Although evi- this holding area.
dent when walking through the stacks, The second conclusion that one may
the results of improper shelving, the im- draw from the low number of enclosures
proper use of bookends, and overly tight is the relatively low level of past preser-
shelving are more striking when the dam- vation efforts. With about 3.33 percent of
age is quantifiable. The 2002 assessment the collection suffering from detachedBuilding Preservation 221
boards and over 17 percent of the collec- TABLE 5
Acidity to Breakability as
tion brittle to the point that the paper can-
Reported in 2002 Assessment
not withstand a single double-fold (table
5), there is likely a significant backlog of
Category % of Total
material that will, at minimum, likely
Acidic/One Fold 17.18
benefit from an enclosure.
Acidic/Two Folds 8.72
Acidic/Three Folds 4.87
Internal Pages
Leaf Damage
Acidic/Four Folds 4.87
Acidic/Not Brittle 54.62
Actual paper damage is best represented
Non-acidic/One Fold 0.26
by noting that 159 of the 390 sampled
Non-acidic/Two Folds 0.26
items exhibited no signs of damage. This
Non-acidic/Three Folds 0.00
represents 40.77 percent of the collection,
Non-acidic/Four Folds 0.00
or about 2,363,465 volumes with no in-
Non-acidic/Non-Brittle 9.23
ternal damage. Of those exhibiting one or
more categories of leaf damage, the rea-
sons are likely varied; however, staining
and water damage often result from the than 4 percent of the collection had adhe-
same event. sive tape affixed to leaves, likely in an
Perhaps the most striking concern attempt to repair damaged pages. In
raised is the number of volumes indicat- terms of patron-deposited materials, 6.41
ing evidence of marking (as characterized percent had paper slips inserted into text
by highlighting and underlining) and/or blocks, 1.28 percent had paperclips on
staining. Nearly 11 percent of the sampled leaves, and another 1.03 percent had self-
items were obviously marked. The library adhesive notes applied to pages. Approxi-
has a long-standing history of encourag- mately 3.33 percent of the collection had
ing access both on campus and off, a tra- other extraneous material inserted within
dition that is valued and unlikely to the text blocks. Unfortunately, the assess-
change in the near future. However, the ment did not include provision to gather
high incidence of marking is indicative of data on the types of extraneous material
users’ poor care and handling practices. found.
Ten percent of the sampled pieces suffered
from some sort of staining. The staining Paper Acidity
was the result of a variety of sources, but As the repository for much of the
only a small portion of the stained items library’s older materials, it stands to rea-
also visibly suffered from other related son that the stacks collection would suf-
forms of damage, including water, visible fer from a higher-than-expected level of
mold, and insect damage. One conclusion paper acidity. Indeed, that is the case. Of
is that many of these other stains resulted the 390 items sampled using an Abbey
from user-related damage. pH pen, 352 tested acidic on the exterior
Of additional concern is the 3.08 per- margin of the last page of text. Even
cent of volumes (or 178,550) that exhibit though this measures edge acidity and
some sign of pest-related damage to the not core acidity, the result indicates that
text block. Although this may include 90.26 percent of the central stacks collec-
damage that transpired before their acces- tion is acidic. In terms of actual numbers,
sion by UIUC, this evidence indicates that this translates into approximately
some contemporary damage is occurring. 5,232,435 pieces from a population total-
ing 5,797,070.
Extraneous Material
As would be expected, a number of vol- Paper Acidity as Related to Brittleness
umes suffered from the presence of vari- As was demonstrated in the earlier subsec-
ous extraneous materials. Slightly less tion on date of publication, approximately222 College & Research Libraries May 2003
TABLE 6
Paper Acidity to Brittleness as Reported in 2002 Assessment
Category Number % of Acidic Books % of Total Collection
Acidic & Not Brittle 213 60.51 54.62
Acidic & Brittle 139 39.49 35.64
Total 352 100.00 90.26
80.26 percent of the central stacks collection tion maintenance activities. Of the 139
was published before 1980. Nearly all of pieces that were both acidic and brittle, the
these were published on acidic paper. As paper’s functionality varies greatly. A to-
noted earlier, only a portion of the central tal of 17.18 percent of the sampled pieces
stacks is air-conditioned. Indeed, nearly 55 were both acidic and embrittled to such a
percent of this collection resides in space point that the paper could not withstand
completely governed by the ambient air one double-fold without breaking (table 5).
temperature. Consequently, the collection Acidic pieces that could withstand two
would be expected to suffer from a high folds accounted for 8.72 percent of the en-
level of embrittlement. tire collection, and acidic pieces that could
Of those portions of the collection withstand three to four folds accounted for
printed on acidic paper, a significant per- 9.74 percent of the collection.
centage suffers from some level of Of additional interest is the fact that
embrittlement. As shown in table 6, 60.51 the library completed an air-conditioned
percent of the acidic books are not yet stacks addition in 1984.17 Those items in
brittle whereas 39.49 percent are suffer- the new addition were located in climate-
ing from some level of embrittlement. In controlled environment for only five
terms of the entire collection, these fig- years before the 1989 survey was com-
ures translate into 54.62 and 35.64 percent, pleted. At the time of the original survey,
respectively, of the entire collection. That the change in the collection’s environ-
means that the stacks collection is com- ment had only a marginal impact on the
posed of nearly 2,066,076 volumes that are state of the collection. However, because
acidic and brittle and another 3,166,360 eighteen years have passed since the new
volumes that are acidic, but not yet addition was completed, the authors con-
embrittled. Although some older volumes ducted a preliminary investigation to de-
constructed of higher-quality papers will termine the effects of superior environ-
remain pliable despite high levels of acid, mental conditions on the state of the col-
the vast majority of the volumes that are lection in the new addition.
acidic, but not yet brittle, will likely con- Of those items sampled in the addition,
tinue to degrade and become increasingly the number published on acidic paper
fragile. nearly equaled the results for the entire
sample population. However, the num-
Paper Acidity as Related to Breakability ber of items that were both acidic and
Even though the assessment determined brittle is significantly reduced. For ex-
that 35.64 percent of the entire collection ample, only 11 percent of this subpopu-
is both acidic and brittle, planning for lation broke on one double fold, com-
long-term collection maintenance activi- pared to 17 percent from the entire sample
ties requires a more detailed analysis of population. Similarly, only 4.3 percent of
the pieces themselves and their ability to those items located in better environmen-
withstand other forms of treatment. tal conditions broke on two double folds,
In terms of treating this collection, the compared to 8.72 percent from the entire
relation of acidity to embrittlement level population. This trend continues
is crucial in planning for long-term collec- throughout the entire brittle componentBuilding Preservation 223
of this population. Some of the difference In addition, the library hired a preser-
is certainly due to the acquisition of vation librarian and a conservator to be-
nonacidic materials, but the possibility gin the planning and implementation of
exists that this may be, in part, from eigh- a preservation program. Coupled with a
teen years in better storage conditions. significant grant from the Andrew F.
However, more comprehensive research Mellon Foundation to outfit and staff a
is needed to determine this conclusively. conservation lab in its high-density shelv-
ing facility, the program is making great
Acidity to Decade of Production strides in meeting the needs of such a
The assessment tool used to manage the large and varied collection.
sample also permitted the authors to gen- However, this does not address how
erate data relating the decade of produc- this assessment will shape the preserva-
tion to a publication’s acidity. From ana- tion and conservation program’s overall
lyzing these data, it is possible to see the development. Broadly viewed, the data
distribution of acidic to nonacidic books generated can be grouped into three areas
by decade of publication. As data from the of general need and/or utility: education
current assessment demonstrate, the per- and outreach; collection repair and main-
centage of acidic volumes begins to drop tenance; and administrative development.
off in 1981–1990, the decade that includes
the widespread introduction of acid-free Education and Outreach
paper (table 7). However, it is not until the As evidenced by Jeanne M. Drewes and
next decade that the number of nonacidic Julie A. Page’s Promoting Preservation
publications begins to have a significant
impact on the relative number of acidic TABLE 7
publications in the collection.
Acidity to Date of Production as
Reported in 2002 Assessment
With the current assessment in hand,
the library now has a unique opportunity
to begin to address its history of benign Decade % Acidic
Pre- 1800 80.00
neglect.
18011810 100.00
18111820 50.00
Assessment Conclusions and
18211830 100.00
Programmatic Development
18311840 100.00
Recognizing that the collection has suf-
18411850 100.00
fered from the lack of regular mainte-
18511860 100.00
nance, the University of Illinois at Ur-
18611870 100.00
bana-Champaign seriously began to
18711880 100.00
address preservation concerns in the past
18811890 100.00
few years. Two years ago, UIUC hired a
18911900 87.50
consultant to complete a needs assess-
ment. Primarily focusing on the facilities, 19011910 100.00
the consultant’s report gave the institu- 19111920 100.00
tion the ability to tangibly discuss need. 19211930 100.00
For example, in addition to highlighting 19311940 100.00
the deficiencies caused by deferred main- 19411950 93.75
tenance, the assessment provided the li- 19511960 95.12
brary with an estimate of the collection’s 19611970 98.15
replacement value.18 Although this type 19711980 92.06
of information does not immediately ad- 19811990 77.78
dress concerns, it has been valuable in 19912000 53.13
lobbying the administration and increas- 2001Present 50.00
ing awareness of the library’s value to the Unknown 85.71
campus.224 College & Research Libraries May 2003
Awareness in Libraries: A Sourcebook for In addition, the head of preservation
Academic, Public, School, and Special Col- initiated a silent campaign of raising pres-
lections, education and outreach have a ervation awareness among both employ-
long tradition within the preservation ees and users. Several months ago, the
program arsenal.19 This education gener- program began producing a periodic
ally takes multiple forms, targeting both newsletter that provides basic informa-
employees and users. Based on the sig- tion on the preservation program and its
nificant number of volumes suffering offerings, how to take better care of col-
from highlighting, underlining, and other lections, and preservation in general. Dis-
markings (637,678) or from the use of in- tributed electronically, the newsletter also
appropriate bookmarks such as includes a What’s This? section with a
paperclips and self-adhesive notes (74,202 picture highlighting either examples of
and 59,710, respectively), neither the preservation do’s and don’ts or items of
library’s users nor its employees have interest such as images of high-density
been educated about the damaging effects storage facilities in operation.
of such items or the importance of remov- Efforts to reach the library’s user popu-
ing them when the volumes are returned. lation are still developing. However,
Moreover, the fact that significant por- through a collaborative project with a
tions of the collection’s external cases are member of the university’s faculty and a
scratched (1,233,616) and misshapen senior graphics design class, the preser-
(936,227) indicates that significant care and vation and conservation program now
handling issues have not been addressed. has designs for posters, bookmarks, and
This may include poor handling by users, screensavers to communicate the preser-
but it also likely includes the deleterious vation message.
effects of overly tight shelving. Even
though it is expected that the library’s Collection Maintenance and Repair
planned high-density shelving facility will Although the library’s bookstacks office
resolve much of this issue, the fact remains and book repair unit have traditionally
that there are serious deficiencies in basic completed repairs, establishing the pres-
care and handling education. ervation and conservation program has
Finally, a significant portion of the col- focused heavily on developing these ca-
lection suffers from water damage and pacities to better serve the institution’s
staining. Although it is likely that leaks needs. The program’s first year and a half
and other faults in the building structure focused primarily on the improvement
have caused much of this damage, some and rationalization of existing services.
of it is the result of careless handling or For example, before September 2001, there
untreated damage. was no formal relationship between li-
To address some of these issues, the brary binding and book repair. Units with
preservation and conservation program damaged materials sent them to either
has taken a three-pronged approach. In- book repair or binding, generally with-
ternally, the head of preservation, the con- out instruction and frequently without
servation librarian, the associate univer- knowledge of actual need. Consequently,
sity librarian for collections, and a mem- the library outsourced to a library binder
ber of the repair unit have begun to de- many repairs that could have been done
velop and hold a series of educational by existing internal staff and completed
workshops for employees. Thus far, the repairs on many items that should have
program consists of a preservation orien- been rebound.
tation, training in library binding, and Similarly, many items did not receive
training in basic book repair. Additional the more in-depth treatment their dam-
workshops on disaster response and pres- age warranted. As evidenced by the
ervation decision making for collection library’s long-neglected backlog of brittle
managers are planned for the future. materials, the treatment of brittle materi-Building Preservation 225
als was scattered and infrequent. Some tion with concrete data for administrative
items received phase boxes and others development. As mentioned earlier in this
various inappropriate or outdated re- article, the campus has followed a long-
pairs, many of which caused permanent term policy of deferred facilities mainte-
damage to the original items. To address nance. The site survey performed by a
this issue in a more comprehensive man- consultant in 2001 provided the campus
ner, the library’s administration autho- and the library’s administration with a
rized the new position of a brittle books common language when discussing the
coordinator. Working with the head of collection—its monetary value to the cam-
preservation, the brittle books coordina- pus. This assessment follows suit by pro-
tor is establishing the institution’s first viding the library’s administration with
comprehensive replacement and refor- the ability to justify improvements based
matting program, both digging through on specific needs.
the backlog and dealing with those ma- For example, the 1989 assessment con-
terials that are now being routed to the cluded that 37 percent of the collection’s
preservation and conservation unit. paper quality was poor.20 At the conclu-
In addition to tackling damaged ma- sion of the assessment described in this
terials, the preservation and conservation article, the authors can assert that slightly
program began to systematically address over 35 percent of the collection is com-
the issue of binding paperback acquisi- posed of paper suffering some level of
tions. The assessment indicates that, of the embrittlement. Although this is generally
entire sample population, forty-eight in keeping with the 1989 assessment,
items, or 12 percent of the sampled items, there is both good news and bad. The
appeared in soft covers. Excluding those good news is that although 35 percent of
that the library had bound at some point, the collection is embrittled, only 25.9 per-
nearly 39 percent of the sampled items cent is on acidic paper that fractures after
produced since 1989 are paperbacks. In one or two double-folds. Another 0.52
the long run, this indicates that the percent of the sampled items are printed
library’s collection patterns are changing on nonacidic paper that is likely coated
significantly and that its binding patterns and breaks after two or fewer folds. The
need to follow suit. Assessment results bad news is that the combination of these
indicate that 4.2 percent of all paperbacks numbers indicates that the institution is
sampled suffer from damaged or mended in possession of roughly 1,531,586 ex-
leaves and that an additional 4.2 percent tremely brittle volumes within this single
have covers mended with either cloth or collection.
adhesive tape. Even though this equals Despite this significant corpus of
only one percent of the entire sample, it embrittled materials, the more shocking
implies that roughly 58,000 paperbacks figure is that a further 54.62 percent of the
have received or need repairs. In addition, collection is printed on acidic paper that
eleven of the paperbacks sampled were has not yet become embrittled. Conse-
misshapen. This only equals 2.8 percent quently, the library is in possession of a
of the entire collection but amounts to a collection composed of 90.26 percent
startling 23.4 percent of all paperbacks acidic paper in a facility with extremely
sampled. Using these data, the preserva- fluid environmental conditions with an-
tion and conservation program has begun other 0.52 percent that, although acid free
to implement a systematic means of ad- on the surface, is very fragile. These data
dressing the binding needs of its paper- illustrate that, untreated, the rate of dete-
back collections. rioration is having an impact that pres-
ently outpaces the rate of acid-free trans-
Administrative Development fers into the collection. Despite the sig-
The assessment’s most far-reaching out- nificant increase in the acquisition of acid-
come is the ability to provide the institu- free pieces in the past two decades, the226 College & Research Libraries May 2003
percentage of embrittled pieces is remain- embrittlement. Although the cost of
ing relatively stable. This could stem from proper HVAC controls is staggering, it is
a number of reasons, including the con- dwarfed by the costs of replacement, re-
tinued rate of deterioration in an unstable formatting, and deacidification. If the
environment, an increased rate of acqui- possibility exists that improved condi-
sition of older materials through the tions did slow the rate of embrittlement,
institution’s robust gifts program, or the this assessment’s results provide the
delay in the transfer of more current acid- library’s administration with a significant
free acquisitions into the central stacks. tool in its quest to improve the facility’s
Regardless of the cause for such contin- conditions.
ued deterioration, the data in table 7 in- Within the library, the data provided by
dicate that the production of acid-free this assessment are guiding programmatic
paper will have a significant impact on development in some significant ways. As
the long-term health of our collection. noted earlier, the preservation and conser-
However, the continued deterioration of vation program has been making strides
our older collection items indicates that in improving and expanding services. This
the long-term effects of acid-free paper are development also has included the devel-
not likely to be seen for some time when opment of policies and procedures that
considering larger collection-wide pres- seek to address internal deficiencies. Ex-
ervation issues at UIUC. amples include the development and
The ability to contrast the replacement phased implementation of uniform bind-
and reformatting or deacidification needs ing criteria and efforts to increase aware-
of this collection against the significant ness among individual employees about
costs of introducing environmental con- their stewardship role. Although these ef-
trols is valuable for the library’s admin- forts are meeting varying levels of success
istration. Despite the addition of nearly in such a large system, they are steps in
250,000 acid-free publications to this col- the library’s long process of developing a
lection since 1989, the institution is just modern and responsive preservation and
keeping pace with the overall rate of conservation program.
Notes
1. Sara Buchanan and Sandra Coleman, “Deterioration Survey of the Stanford University
Libraries Green Library Stack Collection,” in Preservation Planning Program Resource Notebook,
comp. Pamela W. Darling (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 1987), 159–230.
2. Tina Chrzastowski, et al., “Library Collection Deterioration: A Study at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,” College & Research Libraries 50 (Sept. 1989): 577–84. Barrow’s as-
sertion is available at W. J. Barrow, Deterioration of Book Stock, Causes and Remedies, ed. Randolph
W. Church (Richmond, Va.: The Virginia State Library, 1959), 15.
3. Ibid., 577.
4. Ibid., 579.
5. Brian J. Baird, et al., “Findings from the Condition Surveys Conducted by the University
of Kansas Libraries,” College & Research Libraries 58 (Mar. 1997): 115.
6. Task Force on Preservation, “University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Collection Analy-
sis Project: Report of the Task Force on Preservation” (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, 1980, photocopy) and Illinois Library Materials Preservation Task Force, “The Pres-
ervation of Library and Archival Resources in Illinois: A Five-year Plan of Action” (Carbondale,
Ill.: Illinois Library Materials Preservation Task Force, 1986).
7. First published in 1982, the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) Preservation Planning
Program: An Assisted Self-study Manual for Libraries encouraged libraries to systematically study
their collections and facilities through a process of assessment. In 1987, Pamela W. Darling ex-
panded the publication and Wesley Boomgaarden revised the resource notebook to include sig-
nificant selections from the burgeoning preservation literature. In 1986–1987, Northwestern Uni-
versity, the Colorado State University Libraries, Ohio State University, and many other institu-
tions published these reports.You can also read
