📚FIELD GUIDE 11: Preserving the pages of history

Vanessa Haight Smith is a book conservator for the Smithsonian Institution

As someone who imagines a warm, inviting, and cozy library in my fantastical dream home, books hold an incredibly special place in my heart. Vanessa Haight Smith of the Smithsonian Institution works with books in preserving the pages of many collections and sometimes the last bits of information we can use to look back at times before us.

I’m a book conservator working in the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Preservation Department, where I have been since 2006. For the most part, I work with a team toward the conservation, restoration, and preservation of items from over 20 collections – about two million books.

In the early 1980’s I started my conservation career assisting a paintings conservator. This was right after college where I majored in Art and Art History. My resume reflects the path I have taken, as I moved from work as an artist, work in an art gallery, to jobs in conservation and restoration.

In the late 1990’s I was hired by Princeton University Library where I prepared over one hundred exhibitions for the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. At Princeton I found my métier and fell in love with the book. Some might view my journey to be circuitous, but for me my passion has always been about the arts, and that has never changed.

Image by the Smithsonian Institution

Over the last two thousand years, the book has assumed a position of enormous significance in nearly every culture. The recording of information for reference and as an historical record is a well-defined human activity; and the book has been the principal method.

Book history is a reflection of world history. The evolution of the codex, its structure, materials, and use has been influenced and connected through social, political, and economic themes. These include actions and attitudes of papermakers, scribes, printers, tanners, bookbinders, tradesmen, book sellers, book owners, and collectors.

Preserving this history is enormously satisfying. Books are not only beautiful but working objects. Their parts curiously echo mammalian anatomy: Spine, head, and tail. Motion through the cover to the pages produces an elegant gymnastic action.

Variation of sewing supports, stitch patterns, and other structural features determine the durability, and efficiency of this action. Like the body, a book with good parts and structure moves gracefully – otherwise, even turning a page can cause damage. Knowledge of methods and materials can address most issues and with proper care, it can return a book to good working order.

Working with interns and volunteers keeps the interest alive. I find joy in teaching the next generation of conservators. I find the study and investigation of historic books and collections endlessly fascinating. It is extremely rewarding when students engage in the process of examining a book structure to determine how it was constructed and how used, past interventions, and other factors have led to its current condition.

I want them to understand the book through survey and analysis and then to develop plans and options for treatment, based on practical experience of the methods and materials to be used. And I’d like them to see the big picture, too – where any given book fits into the entire collection and how that entire collection can be preserved.

The benefit of working for a large institution gives the opportunity to teach broadly and globally. In 2011, a year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I arrived in Port-au-Prince to assist with the Haiti Cultural Recovery Program. The project focused on surface cleaning and rehousing the rare book collection from the Bibliothèque Nationale d’Haiti.

The library director offered us a tour of the of the stacks containing books that have been exposed to open windows, high humidity, direct sunlight, and dust. The library had suffered much looting in the past, and the bulk of the collection had to be built from scratch over the past forty years. Most dated from the 19th century and early 20thcentury with the typical signs of deterioration from that period: Brittle acidic text blocks and detached boards. 

Several books had received previous and crude efforts at conservation treatment. Many using methods like repairing paper with Scotch Tape. We were supplied with a team from the library who worked tirelessly wearing dust masks, aprons, gloves, and using cloths, and brushes.

Once cleaned and wrapped, the books were returned in groups to cardboard boxes that were sealed and numbered. In the future, the wrapped volumes can easily be identified as those requiring further conservation treatment. We were able to clean, wrap, and label almost 1500 books in two weeks. It was a rewarding experience to say the least.

I also am an adjunct professor for the Preservation Course at the Catholic University Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) program in Washington, D.C. Teaching has proven to be a great pleasure, as I have found the students delightfully engaged.

In the first year of teaching, a young man - Don, showed interest in the field as he was making a career change. Don completed the five-week course-required practicum to complete his library degree with our preservation department. His training was so successful that I was able to find him work almost immediately – and he is still with us ten years later. Now Don is passing the torch by managing preservation technicians and guiding our volunteer staff.

Educating and inspiring the public to understand the importance of our work is the best opportunity for survival of collections. The public’s awareness can catalyze political interest in ways, like funding. Even understanding how to handle a book from the public library is a good first step.

Library exhibitions provide excellent outreach opportunities for the collections to be seen - and when placed in context of a particular theme, the strength of capturing information in a book is undeniable. What’s often misunderstood is the work that goes on behind the scenes. Libraries are often taken for granted, but there are many hands working to allow the collections to endure.

The ideas of permanence and preservation prevalent in library conservation reflects a linear view of time. Permanence entails continuing to exist in the never-ending forward movement of time. As preservation professionals, we have a valued place in time – and take the responsibility to maintain permanence of the collections. We have to think and act selflessly to make certain that those in the future will have the same benefit, the same passionate long-lasting love for the book.

Vanessa’s song choice

Follow your curiosity

Books are loaded with information waiting to be read, understood, and passed on. Learning how to properly preserve books ensures this knowledge and information can be passed on for centuries to come. The National Archives has tips on how to preserve your books.

Sometimes we inherit documents, diaries, and books over time. Organizing and Preserving Your Heirloom Documents by Katherine Scott Sturelevant is filled with practical, useful tips and guidelines on how to preserve and safely collect pieces of history.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. It’s recommended you visit, if you can, but they also encourage you to take advantage of the endless digital resources available as well.

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Take time this weekend and curl up with your favorite book. Maybe today’s topic will create a new appreciation for all the creative worlds we get lost in.

Skyler