by Alinda Nelson

Each summer the Sibley Music Library at Eastman School of Music conducts a workshop on the preservation of music materials. In July, I spent a week in Rochester, NY attending this year's session. It was a valuable educational experience. I hope to incorporate many of the things I learned into the workflow at Mills Music Library.

The Sibley Library has its own Conservation/Preservation Lab, in contrast to Mills Library which has limited work space and equipment. However, we have the luxury of sending most complicated repairs and restorations to the Memorial Library Conservation Lab located just a few steps away from Mills.

Following is a list of some of the topics covered at the workshop with brief explanations:

• Assessment - Can the item be repaired, if not, is it still available for purchase?
• Preservation photocopying of brittle materials - If a replacement score is unavailable, preservation photocopies may be made in house for items with a few pages. Longer scores may be sent out to a commercial vendor, but this is very expensive.
• Pamphlet binding of thin scores - Eastman uses similar procedures to ours, but we can make some changes to enhance this activity.
• Book/score repair and rebinding - Some older, rarer items can be treated at Memorial Library's Conservation Lab.
• Commercial binding preparation - This is used for non-brittle and newer materials.
• Erasure, watermarks, mold, tape - Eastman has students erasing scores continuously to discourage further marking. Watermarks and mold can be laboriously removed, but most moldy items are discarded if possible. Mold is considered very "dangerous" because it may spread to other items. NEVER use tape on books and music because it is almost impossible to remove.
• Library user education pertaining to the proper treatment of borrowed materials. See above. Don't mark or tape items. Don't get them wet. But if you do, dry or freeze before mold sets in!
• Microfilming and digitizing - This topic was covered briefly. It can be an effective means for preserving research materials. However, it is not as useful for preserving performance scores because it would necessitate the patron making a copy to use in performance.
• Recommended supplies - This covered the use of proper paper, glue, etc. and the vendors where the materials can be purchased.
• Disaster planning - Memorial Library does the major planning which would affect Mills Music Library, however some ideas from the workshop may be useful.

A detailed bound manual of all workshop procedures, suppliers and more was given to all participants. This is a wonderful, permanent book which includes all material covered during the workshop.

I enjoyed my week at Eastman School of Music very much. I was impressed by all the library space which they have. For example, most shelves aren't even half full, and all brittle material is retained even if withdrawn. During free time, I attended several enjoyable musical events and other local attractions.

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