Register Now for Free Preservation Week Programming

Preservation Week at the Library of Congress starts April 24^th and it’s one of our favorite times of the year! The trees are blooming and it’s time for the Preservation Directorate to fling open our (virtual) doors and welcome you inside. We see Preservation Week as our opportunity to draw back the curtain and let you see what happens behind the scenes.

For those of you who don’t know, Preservation Week is an initiative of the Association of Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Every year, collecting institutions across the country put on events that highlight the preservation work they do. These events provide insight to any topic from professional preservation practices such as environmental monitoring or conservation, as well as smaller scale preservation projects, like preserving family photographs and scrapbooks. This year the official Preservation Week is scheduled for April 30^th through May 6^th and there are several institutions participating and providing free presentations. You should also check in with your favorite local library, archive, or museum and see if they are offering programing that week.

This year the Library of Congress is presenting four webinars featuring preservation work at the Library. We are starting the week off by looking at various imaging techniques utilized by Preservation Research and Testing used to capture a range of information about our collections. Some of the techniques that will be discussed are multispectral imaging, Image Reconstruct Erase Noise Etc. (IRENE), and more. On Tuesday, we will be talking about the Library’s project to improve space management and collection needs; a topic any institution with a growing collection can sympathize with. On Wednesday, staff from the Library’s Web Archiving Team will discuss what web archiving is and how the Library does it. On Thursday, our Advanced Conservation Interns will discuss their career path and showcase some of their conservation treatments.  If any of these pique your interest you can find the complete descriptions and registration links on our Preservation Week webpage. As an added bonus, we have past recordings available on the same page.

And don’t worry, if four webinars leave you wanting even more preservation information, we have you covered. The Library of Congress is proud to host the Held in Trust National Convening on Friday, April 28^th. The Held in Trust project is a four-year cooperative agreement between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) to evaluate the state of preservation and conservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the United States. The Convening will be an exciting way to discuss the findings of the project, suggest future directions for the field, and outline the vision of a thriving, equitable, and just community of practice. The Convening will be held in person; however, space is limited to invitation only. For anyone else who is interested the event will be livestreamed, for more information and registration click here.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting week this year, hope to see you there!

All Library of Congress Preservation Week webinars will be recorded and posted on our website, this process usually takes a couple months. You can find all our past recordings here.

Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].