The UCLA Department of Information Studies has taken considerable steps toward the possible creation of a new Book and Paper Conservation program. The planning for the proposed Book and Paper Conservation Program is funded by a $200,000 grant that was awarded to UCLA last December by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. During this initial year of the grant, Ellen Pearlstein, UCLA Professor of Information Studies and the UCLA/Getty Program in the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials, has been leading the planning of the new specialization within the Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree program.
For the last year, Pearlstein has been meeting with colleagues from archives and libraries across the nation, including UCLA, the Library of Congress and the National Archives, Harvard, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, The Getty Center, and a regional lab in San Diego, to discuss curriculum and laboratory design for the program; made visits to other book and paper conservation laboratories across the U. S.; and overseen the development of design documents to guide the renovation of a campus space to a state-of-the-art book and paper conservation teaching laboratory. A final meeting of advisors will be held in October. In addition, there has also been fundraising for an Endowed Directorship, endowed faculty in Book and Paper Conservation, for the new-stateof-the-art Book and Paper Conservation Laboratory, and for scholarships for graduate students in the program.
After this initial year of planning, UCLA’s Department of Information Studieslooks forward to becoming a resource that will prepare the next century of conservators for the nation’s museums, libraries, and special collections. Pearlstein says that the new program would address the current nationwide shortage of qualified specialists in book and document conservation, and would position UCLA as a leader in conservation education.
“Our planning process has uncovered important trends in employment and directions for conservators in these specialized fields,” says Pearlstein. “UCLA’s Information Studies Department has learned about how best to meet the needs of 21 century book and paper conservation. We are indebted to our expert advisors and to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support.”
In addition to the planning of the new conservation specialization in IS, a lecture series titled, “Celebrating the Art & Science of Book and Paper Conservation in the 21 Century” will explore the historical, technical, and artistic aspects of this field, with talks by experts and film screenings at UCLA this fall. The three-part lecture series will showcase timely issues in the field of conservation and preservation, in order to introduce the depth and variety of possibilities to graduates of the new MLIS specialization in Book and Paper Conservation. This free lecture series, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation planning grant.
Professor Pearlstein says that the lecture series will enhance the learning experience of current IS students as well as serve as a recruitment tool that showcases the varied potential of careers in conservation and the wide range of skills that are needed in the field.
“UCLA is privileged to host four leading figures, each presenting research and practice in book and paper conservation,” she says. “These speakers will highlight the new demands placed on conservators in the 21 century, the role of science in augmenting conservation research and practice, and the breakthroughs in conservation made through catastrophic events such as the Florence Flood. Students and faculty in Information Studies, as well as historians, artists and scientists across campus, will benefit from these innovative and traditional talks.”
The series will be launched by Renate Mesmer, head of conservation at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., who will present “Playing Our Part: A Special Collections Library,” on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. Mesmer, who has previously worked conserving and restoring books and manuscripts at the University Library in Mannheim, the Speyer State Archives in Germany, and the Centro del bel libro in Ascona, Switzerland, will discuss the varied expertise of the Folger’s conservation team members who contribute innovative approaches to the traditional library needs and 21st Century technological demands of a successful research library.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, Abigail B. Quandt, head of book and paper conservation at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, will speak on “Revealing Hidden Stories: the Role of the Conservator in Advancing Scholarship in Medieval Manuscripts, beginning with the Archimedes Palimpsest.” Quandt, who specializes in illuminated manuscripts on parchment and who has lectured and published extensively on this topic, will describe some of the discoveries that have recently been made about manuscripts from The Walters Art Museum, beginning with her own innovative research on the Archimedes Palimpsest. She will also explore how this research has advanced the understanding of the material construction, ownership, provenance, and later alteration of the objects.
On Thursday, Nov. 3, Lieve Watteeuw, head of the Book Heritage Lab, KU Leuven, Belgium, will discuss the two “Microdomes” or imaging devices, that have been developed by the University of Leuven for the exploration of materials produced in medieval and early modern times. Watteeuw, who specializes in medieval manuscript illumination, book production, art-technical research, and conservation/preservation strategies for heritage libraries, will share how the Microdomes are used by conservators to analyze extremely small art technical features and monitor conservation treatments, as well as research cases in the field of illuminations, bookbindings, prints and drawings.
Finally, on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m., the series will wrap up with “The West Coast Tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Florence Flood and the Book and Paper Conservation Techniques Developed,” presented by renowned calligrapher Sheila Waters, and her son, lettering designer Julian Waters, who will speak about Sheila’s 2016 book, “Waters Rising: Letters from Florence,” which chronicles the leadership of Waters’ late husband Peter Waters in organizing monumental efforts to save more than 100,000 severely damaged rare books in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze after a flood ravaged Florence in 1966. Sheila and Peter’s son Julian Waters served as a consultant and co-designer of the book.
“Waters Rising” contains more than 50 letters exchanged between Peter and Sheila that served as his diary of the work undertaken, along with 300 photos, mostly taken by Peter. After his work in Florence, Peter Waters was appointed as Chief of Conservation at the Library of Congress. Peter has had a lasting influence on book and paper conservation during the past 50 years.
This culminating event will begin at 3 p.m. with a screening of “Florence: Days of Destruction,” a rare documentary by Franco Zeffirelli. This will be followed at 4 p.m. with a screening of “The Restoration of Books: Florence,” a film made in 1968 by Roger Hill, with Peter Waters as consultant and scriptwriter. Sheila Waters and Julian Waters will speak at 5 p.m. on how events unfolded following the flood, quoting Peter’s words, with many photos of the restoration work and many of the people involved. A wine and cheese reception, as well as a book signing, will follow the lecture.
These events will all take place in the UCLA Northwest Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the UCLA community and the public, but due to limited seating, registration is required to attend.
To attend “Celebrating the Art & Science of Book and Paper Conservation in the 21 Century” events and for directions, click here.
Courtesy of Ellen Pearlstein