NYPL's Intensive Care Unit -- The Goldsmith Conservation Laboratory

The Barbara Goldsmith Preservation Division supports the mission of The New York Public Library by preserving both the artifacts that comprise our rich collections and the intellectual record that they contain in order to ensure their long-term survival and access for current and future generations.

A wide variety of preservation activities are performed in the Division’s program areas: Binding and Shelf Preparation, Collection Care, Field Services, Conservation Treatment, and Reformatting. These areas oversee binding and labeling of the Library’s books and periodicals; mass deacidification of books, journals, and archival collections; construction of protective housings; general collection repair; surveys of the overall condition of the collections; training staff and the public about preservation issues; project planning; environmental monitoring; disaster preparedness and recovery; integrated pest management; reformatting and creating facsimiles of materials; and special collections conservation treatment.

In addition to treatment activities, conservators in the Goldsmith Conservation Lab serve as advisors, consultants, and liaisons to the Library's curatorial divisions by providing conservation recommendations and assisting in selecting collection materials for treatment. Once GCL staff assess the condition of a collection item and propose possible treatments, the curator and conservation staff agree on the specific treatment and the item is placed on the conservation treatment schedule.

-Evelyn Frangakis, Aaron and Clara Greenhut Rabinowitz Chief Librarian for Preservation