Preservation Week

Preservation Week
Name	Preservation Week
Frequency	Annual
First	2013
Country	United States
Organized by	American Library Association, American Library Association

Preservation Week is an annual observance promoting conservation, emergency preparedness, and access to cultural heritage materials across libraries, archives, and museums. Founded to mobilize institutions and communities, it emphasizes practical stewardship strategies for collections ranging from manuscripts and photographs to born-digital archives and audiovisual materials. Activities include workshops, assessments, outreach campaigns, and collaboration with national and local heritage organizations.

Overview

Preservation Week mobilizes practitioners and volunteers at institutions such as the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, New York Public Library, National Archives and Records Administration, and American Antiquarian Society to address risks to collections. The initiative links conservation professionals from institutions like the Getty Conservation Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts with local partners such as public libraries, university libraries including Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, and community archives like the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Events engage stakeholders represented by organizations such as the Society of American Archivists, Association of Research Libraries, American Alliance of Museums, and regional historical societies.

History

The program originated within the American Library Association and drew on precedents set by campaigns from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, disaster-response protocols informed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and collections-care guidance published by the National Archives and Records Administration. Early collaborations included partnerships with the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate and pilot events modeled on practices from the British Library and the National Library of Australia. Over time, multi-institutional responses to emergencies—illustrated by collective actions after events comparable to the Hurricane Katrina response and preservation efforts following floods in the Mississippi River basin—shaped its emphasis on preparedness and community engagement.

Objectives and Themes

Core objectives include raising awareness about preventive conservation, disaster planning, and long-term access for formats such as paper, parchment, film, magnetic tape, and digital media. Thematic emphases have drawn on standards and guidelines from the American Institute for Conservation, the International Council on Archives, and the International Council of Museums, aligning campaigns with observances like Archives Week and national initiatives supported by funders such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Themes have addressed topics reflected in professional discourse at conferences such as the Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting and the American Library Association Annual Conference.

Participating Organizations and Partnerships

Participants range from national institutions—National Gallery of Art, Hunt Botanical Library—to local entities such as municipal libraries and historical societies. Partnerships often include academic centers like the Monument Laboratory, conservation training programs at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, and technical collaborators such as the Digital Preservation Coalition and commercial vendors represented at trade shows like ALA Midwinter Meeting. Grantmakers and policy organizations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Council on Library and Information Resources have supported programming and research. Emergency-response networks involving the Red Cross and regional heritage emergency teams coordinate preparedness trainings.

Activities and Programming

Typical programming includes hands-on workshops on paper repair, photographic conservation, and digitization led by staff from institutions such as the George Eastman Museum and the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Public events feature lectures referencing collections at institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Historical Society, do-it-yourself preservation clinics inspired by outreach models from the Boston Public Library, and digital preservation sessions covering repositories like DSpace-based archives and systems used at the California Digital Library. Toolkits, assessment guides, and quick-start resources mirror practices advocated by the Library of Congress and training curricula from the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts.

Impact and Reception

Scholarly and professional reception has been reflected in citations at meetings of the Society of American Archivists and in articles in journals such as The American Archivist and Archivaria. Impact evaluations conducted with partners including the Institute of Museum and Library Services and university research centers have documented increases in local emergency plans, digitization projects at institutions like Yale University libraries, and volunteer engagement modeled after successful campaigns at the San Francisco Public Library. Critics and commentators from outlets such as Library Journal and professional blogs have noted challenges in scaling services for underfunded institutions and the need for sustained funding from organizations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Funding and Administration

Administration is coordinated through the American Library Association with programmatic input from the Preservation and Reformatting Section and partnerships with grantmakers such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, and philanthropic entities like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Funding models mix grants, institutional sponsorships from universities and cultural organizations, and in-kind contributions from partners including the Getty Conservation Institute and regional heritage networks. Administrative practices follow standards discussed at professional gatherings such as the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting and reporting guidelines used by agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts.

Category:Heritage preservation initiatives Category:American Library Association events