During fiscal 2003, the Preservation Directorate provided a comprehensive range of services to preserve, protect and make available the Library's extensive collections. Through the coordinated efforts of staff in the directorate's four divisions and two special programs, 1,873,453 items were preserved at a total cost of $12,164,716. The average per-item cost was $6.49, a decrease of $3.46 from fiscal 2002.
Senior Paper Conservators Slyvia Albro (left) and Cyntia Karne remove a section of a 1916 movie poster, "The Ghost's Bride," from a calcified water bath following an enzyme treatment to remove old adhesive. - Minah Song
In addition to preservation activities outlined above, notable accomplishments included (1) the provision of 35,000 hours of conservation treatment for custodial division collections, including the selection and stabilization of 600 items for the National Digital Library; (2) the successful completion of year two of a five-year preventive preservation initiative; (3) deacidification of 223,575 books and 1 million sheets of paper; (4) completion of the second year of a multiyear project to determine the life expectancy of compact disc media; and (5) the preservation microfilming of 2.1 million exposures (4.3 million pages) for service to Congress and the public.
