NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 23 number 3 - Spring 2003

Preservation and Collection Seminars

By Mary Kate Keith, Friends of the Library

"Preservation Solutions for Private Collections" and "Rare Book Collecting" were the topics of two seminars hosted by the Friends of the Library on February 1, 2003. Scott Devine, head of the NCSU Libraries Preservation Department, presented information on preserving personal collections of papers, books, and family photographs. Thirty seminar participants learned valuable information on how to store and care for their documents and photos properly. Linda McCormick, assistant curator for rare books and research services in the library's Special Collections Department, conducted the second seminar. She presented an introductory workshop on building personal libraries and book collections. She offered suggestions on ways to collect as well as how to determine values of individual books and whole collections. One participant, energized by what she learned, remarked that she was renewing her commitment to preserving her collection of important family documents, which she plans leave to the library.