Preservation Office

The MSU Libraries' Preservation Office, a department of the Conservation & Preservation Unit, is responsible for the overall care of the library's print and paper-based collections. Activities include environmental and pest monitoring, user education and co-ordination with other units on matters of caring for books, especially Special Collections and other units with collections of distinction. All supply orders for conservation and archival supplies are routed through the Preservation Office via the Supplies Ordering System (for MSU Libraries' staff only). The Preservation Office is also responsible for the MSUL's Disaster Response Plan and spearheads the Disaster Recovery Committee.

The Preservation Office maintains information on best practices for handling MSU Libraries' materials and maintaining safe conditions for their long term care.

• Mold identification
  • Is It Mold (pdf) - an infographic by Bexx Caswell-Olson
• Handling Library Materials
  • How to Remove Items from a Map Case (pdf) by Bexx Caswell-Olson

Current and recent projects have included:

• Boxing of Special Collections in preparation for moving collections (2020-ongoing)
• Mold remediation and consultation at Gull Lake Kellogg Biological Station Library (2022)
• Planning for the future relocation of the Special Collections stacks (2016-ongoing)
• Expansion of the MSUL Remote Storage facility (2016-2017)
• Google scanning project (2012-2014)