The Preservation Program Blueprint (review)

The Preservation Program Blueprint,Barbra Buckner Higginbotham and Judith W. Wild. (Frontiers of Access to Library Materials, #6). Chicago: American Library Association, 2001. 168 p. $37 (ISBN 0-8389-0802-0)

The Preservation Program Blueprint is a concise and useful presentation of strategies for incorporating preservation into a broad range of library operations. This approach is valid in some measure for all libraries but is particularly useful for institutions that are not able to support an administrator with specialized training and staff dedicated solely to preservation. Currently working in the Brooklyn College Library, both authors are administrators with significant experience in the types of libraries most likely to benefit from this book. One of the authors, Barbra Buckner Higginbotham, has a record of publications related to preservation, most notably as the author of Our Past Preserved: A History of American Library Preservation, 1875-1910 (G.K. Hall, 1990).

Higginbotham and Wild observe that comparatively few libraries--large research libraries--have a centralized preservation program administered by a specialist with advanced training and implemented by a dedicated staff. Even so, the authors maintain that preservation is relevant for most libraries and that effective programs can be managed even in small- and medium-sized institutions by distributing preservation responsibilities across existing staff structures. The Preservation Program Blueprint divides preservation administration into discrete actions and roles that can be assigned to positions or units found in most libraries.

The first two chapters are particularly successful at describing the vital roles of library directors and building managers. Effective preservation programs begin with a director's leadership and budgetary authority. The director is in a position to make preservation a clear part of reporting managers' duties and to provide necessary funding. This is equally true in large and small institutions. Similarly, building managers are uniquely able to make sure collections are housed under a roof that does not leak, in the coolest and driest possible environment, and in clean stacks that are free of pests. Subsequent chapters use departments, processes, and categories of materials as frames of reference to present preservation as an integral part of library activities and functions that are familiar to most librarians.

Higginbotham and Wild present a flexible model for decentralization that allows libraries to take advantage of existing positions and management structure. This is not to say that preservation does not require resources. To the contrary, the authors very clearly indicate that preservation must be supported with staff time, supplies, and a budget for contracted services. In many cases, resources for preservation are already reflected in the annual budget for a typical library in the form of staff time and funds for commercial binding and repairs for damaged materials. Other expenditures described by the authors may be new to many libraries. For example, a very convincing case is made for the use of consultants as a cost-effective source of expertise when libraries do not have resources for a full-time preservation administrator.

Following discussions of how preservation fits into diverse elements of library practice, the authors conclude with an extensive resource guide and bibliography. Although generally helpful, this part of the book has some curious choices and omissions, particularly related to commercial binding. A single commercial binder with a regional service area is listed by company name near the beginning of the guide while the Library Binding Institute (LBI) is only mentioned in an annotation. For a broad audience, it might be more useful to provide information about LBI, an international association of binders specializing in services for libraries. Similarly, while most LBI binders use one of two common and equally reputable software packages, only one is mentioned and described by the authors. While such omissions are worth noting, the overall quality of the resource guide and bibliography is very good. A list of Regional Conservation Centers and Field Services is especially useful for librarians seeking advice and opportunities for training.

The Preservation Program Blueprint is a brief and...