In the Preservation Department, preventive measures and hands-on conservation treatments are undertaken to ensure that materials are accessible for use today and far into the future. Our highest priorities are proactive measures that prevent damage, slow deterioration, and confer the most benefit to the most collections. Many types of damage, deterioration, and loss cannot be corrected or reversed after they have occurred.

Conservation treatments are performed in our book and paper conservation labs, we prepare journals and books for binding by a commercial library bindery, and we make custom-fitted enclosures both by hand and with the help of an automated box-making machine. We have facilities and equipment to mitigate collection hazards such as mold, insect pests, damage from extreme weather events or building system problems, and  systems for monitoring temperature and relative humidity where our collections are housed.

Our work is interwoven with many other library activities, including collection development and management, acquisitions, cataloging and processing, collection storage, facilities, circulation, exhibitions, and digitization. Preservation is a shared responsibility, and everyone working in a library or using its collections has a role in it.

Other departments in the IU Libraries with responsibility for preservation and conservation include the Lilly Library’s Conservation Department, which has overall responsibility for the preservation of the Lilly Library’s collections. Both the Paper Conservation Lab and the automated box-making unit in the Preservation Department work with and support the Lilly Library’s preservation and conservation efforts. Digital Preservation and A-V Preservation Services are managed in the Library Technologies Division.