Caring for your family collections – preservation workshops at National Library of Ireland L O U I S E O ’ C O N N O R a n d B R Í D O ’ S U L L I VA N
Introduction1 The National Library of Ireland (NLI), founded in 1877, collects preserves and makes accessible the shared memory of the Irish nation at home and abroad. This is more than 10 million items, including books, newspapers, manuscripts, prints, drawings, ephemera, photographs and, increasingly, digital media. Front of house, the NLI runs a programme of events on an ongoing basis, encompassing tours, workshops, lectures, genealogy events, performances and family-focused events. Behind the scenes, NLI conservators work with exhibitions, loans, incoming acquisitions and a legacy of large collections donated to the library. As part of the National Library of Ireland’s programme for Age and Opportunity’s Bealtaine Festival, a public workshop entitled ‘Caring for your family Collections’ was organised by the Learning and Outreach and Conservation departments for three consecutive years (2010-2013). This paper presents the origin, development and unexpected positive impact the preservation workshops have achieved.
Background The two library departments have developed a strong working relationship by collaborating on several projects as part of the NLI’s Lifelong Learning programme.
— 1. This article is adapted from a presentation made at the Irish Museums Association Education and Outreach Forum on 27 June 2014, Dublin
In 2009, for example, ‘The ‘Magpies’ Nest Project’, drew together local historians from Co. Wexford and Wexford artist Michael Fortune who organised an exhibition under the same title, which ran during the Bealtaine Festival that year. In preparing for the exhibition, the participants learned about the conservation issues that were involved in preparing and putting library material on display. Their questions mirrored many that had been asked by other visitors on guided tours of the NLI exhibitions, “Why is the exhibition so dark?”, “How is the material in the exhibition conserved?” or “How much of the exhibition material is
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