Student employee finds passion in preservation

Emily Stanley examines a book at the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Lab on the IU Bloomington campus.

How do IU Libraries’ book preservation and conservation professionals know when a student employee is serious about their work? When the student makes a book repair workshop at home during the COVID lockdown.

Employee Emily Stanley did just that. “One of the reasons we wanted Emily when we opened up after lockdown was that she was the only one who contacted us and said, ‘Hey! I’m trying to fix my books at home. What pointers can you give me?’ She was still engaged even though none of us could be here,” Library Conservation Technician Lara Tokarski shares. The two became close during the early months of COVID while Stanley worked on her grandmother’s cookbook.

IU Libraries student employment is an excellent jump-off point into internships, after-graduation careers, or, in the case of Stanley, a highly competitive and prestigious bookbinding program. With a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Library Science under her belt, Stanley was accepted at North Bennet Street School (NBSS). It is a unique trade school founded in 1881. Focusing on fine crafts, the school has programs in bookbinding, carpentry, locksmithing, making string instruments, and other traditional trades. Each year, NBSS takes only eight students into their bookbinding program. Head of General Collections Conservation and Preservation Services for IU Libraries Elise Calvi helped Stanley identify schools. “She selected the best school for her interests, applied, was interviewed right away, and accepted,” Calvi says proudly.

Crafting books

“College is a process of learning about yourself,” Stanley reflects. She was drawn to book conservation due to her love of crafts. After graduating with her B.A., she worked at her hometown library and then returned to IU to study library science. With rare books and manuscripts as her specialization, Stanley felt compelled to apply to the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Lab when there was an opening. “I really like working with my hands and I like doing craft projects,” she explains. “Obviously, I love books, and I thought that this could be a good thing to do while here,” she says. “But then I realized I loved it.”

Despite there not being a book conservation and preservation specialty in IU’s library science program, Stanley feels working in the Preservation Lab was an auspicious move in her career path. She discovered her passion while learning about the history of books. Calvi explains, “Although preservation is a specialized field with its own knowledge and skill sets, in a library setting those skills must be applied toward supporting the library’s mission, so understanding libraries and their role in learning and research is just as important as having good hand skills.”

When asked what she likes about preservation, Stanley answers, “I like everything about it. I like learning how everything is put together.” Stanley enjoys the repetition and rhythm of the work. “Each book is a little bit different, so that's where the fun comes in just because you have to look at everything and see what's wrong with it. Then you figure out what you need to do in order to fix it and I like that. It’s like a puzzle.”

Calvi and Tokarski beam. They both agree that Stanley has great fine motor skills. Though she claims she hasn’t made anything particularly fancy yet, she has made books at home from scratch. Talking about book conservation, Stanley says, “It's definitely the ideal career for me. I've always been interested in crafty things. When I was little, I used to make cards for people.” Sitting by a desk with cutting tools, she adds, “I would sit there and cut things out with my utility knife, and I have always loved books in general, so the combination of the two is perfect.”

Restoring books

During her time working for IU Libraries’ Preservation Lab, Stanley has completed some memorable projects. She mended the torn pages of an Arabic book. " It was like a dictionary of Arabic books," she remembers. During the mending, the order of the pages became lost. Not being familiar with numbers written in Arabic script, she couldn't put the pages back in correct order.  After Tokarski borrowed another copy to compare the books, Stanley was able to put the pages in the correct order and resew the volume. “It took me days to put it back together in the right order,” she laughs.

Another memorable book was a copy of Gray's Anatomy. “I had to put a new cover on that one.” Stanley needed to save the special printed endpapers. Using a micro-spatula and patience, she gently lifted the delicate endpapers that were glued to the inside of the book’s old covers so they could be used when she rebound the book in a new cover.  Stanley quips, “I really like my micro-spatula, and you can never go wrong with a good ruler.” Hungarians in America was a fun challenge because of Stanley’s ability to match the two-tone cover. She replaced the spine and restored the book to its original beauty.

Appreciation

Stanley gives credit to her co-workers. “They helped me every single day, and with so many things because I always have questions.” It is obvious they are excited about her future. As they take a photo together, Stanley explains, “They’re just very giving with information, and they're so willing to help when I do have a question. It's just fantastic. You can ask them anything, and they're always right there to help you do better.”

Now that Stanley has started classes at North Bennet Street School, she stays in touch. This now former IU Libraries preservation student has gone on to learn more, but she will always remember the lab where she discovered her passion. The crew that helped nurture her will remember her as well, and soon a new student will sit at the desk, use the micro-spatula and ruler, and fall in love with the art of bookbinding.