Note: The seven web pages describing and illustrating the stabilizing of special collections were taken from an oversize poster developed for educational display and in honor of Archives Month, 2009. This poster can be downloaded as a PDF file. [PDF: 259 KB / 1 p.] This poster requires a minimum printing size of 17" by 11" in order to be readable.
Poster by Ashley Greek and Jennifer Lewis. Includes photographs and designs by the LC Conservation Move/Stabilization Team: Lisa Adang, Ben Bahlmann, Julie Biggs, Sarah McGann Davis, Nancy Lev-Alexander, Julie McInnis, Lisa Moberg, Susan Peckham, Jamie Roberts, Jamie Schmeits, Jim Thurn, Simonette dela Torre and Tiffany Welch. Photos of Fort Meade by Beatriz Haspo.
Introduction & Planning
In 2005, the Library of Congress opened a state-of-the-art, high-density storage facility thirty miles from Capitol Hill at Fort Meade in Maryland. The facility was constructed on a modular basis: Modules 1 and 2 were designed for traditional bound library materials; Modules 3 and 4 (on which these webpages focus) were designed to house 22 million special-format collection items.
The Conservation Division Move Project team was charged with preparing especially challenging special format collections for off-site transport and storage. The collections came from eight custodial divisions across the Library and included a variety of formats such as globes, rolled architectural drawings, ephemera, large works of art on paper, photographs, negatives, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, rare folios and a variety of three-dimensional objects.
Special collections requiring conservation attention were extensively assessed and surveyed so that every container sent to the new Fort Meade module could have a specific shelf location or footprint mapped on a "planograph" to make the most efficient use of every shelf. New housings were designed to stabilize and support each collection appropriately during the move and for long term storage while making the best use of the available space. For this effort, massive quantities of supplies were required which led to careful review of costs and benefits. The materials used to rehouse or treat collections were required to meet the Library’s stringent material specifications.
Left: A section of high-density storage shelves at the off-site facility.
Center: A file cabinet drawer to be surveyed and assessed for rehousing.
Right: Members of the Move/Stabilization Team surveying a collection.
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