Revising and developing the environmental policy at the British Library

Abstract

To preserve their collections, heritage institutions must understand and mitigate causes of damage, including environmental factors. Historically at the British Library this was addressed by policies developed over decades—frequently without overarching guidance—and in response to changing requirements. As a result, these policies were often disjointed, complex and unrepresentative of current practice. This article addresses the review, revision and application of policy. This is informed by a focus on collection needs that incorporate human, operational and practical requirements; the pragmatic understanding of contributory issues; and sufficient flexibility to encourage engagement and support Library activities without jeopardising collection safety. The revised policy has afforded a variety of benefits, not least that it is a single, concise document. It provides explicit reference to material types and vulnerabilities, and the requirements of operational activities, emphasising preventive conservation concerns. It is accessible to other stakeholders, encouraging effective collaboration and leading to achievable outcomes, benefitting the institution as a whole. As such it has strengthened the role of preventive conservation within the Library, and provided a solid and adaptable basis for future work.

Résumé

« Réviser et développer la politique environnementale de la British Library »

Pour préserver leurs collections, les institutions patrimoniales doivent comprendre et atténuer les causes des dommages, y compris les facteurs environnementaux. Historiquement, à la British Library, ce problème était géré par des politiques élaborées au fil des décennies—souvent sans orientation générale—et en réponse à des exigences changeantes. En conséquence, ces politiques étaient souvent décousues, complexes et peu représentatives des pratiques actuelles. Cet article traite de l’examen, de la révision et de l’application de la politique. Ceci s’appuie sur une réflexion sur les besoins en matière de collecte en intégrant les exigences humaines, opérationnelles et pratiques ; la compréhension pragmatique des enjeux contributifs ; et une flexibilité suffisante pour encourager l'engagement et le soutien aux activités de la bibliothèque sans compromettre la sécurité des collections. La politique révisée présente de nombreux avantages, notamment le fait qu'il s'agit d'un document unique et concis. Il fournit une référence explicite aux types de matériaux et à leurs vulnérabilités, ainsi qu'aux exigences des activités opérationnelles, en mettant l'accent sur les préoccupations de conservation préventive. Il est accessible aux autres parties prenantes, encourageant une collaboration efficace et conduisant à des résultats réalisables, bénéficiant à l’institution dans son ensemble. En tant que tel, il a renforcé le rôle de la conservation préventive au sein de la bibliothèque et a fourni une base solide et adaptable pour les travaux futurs.

Zusammenfassung

„Überarbeitung und Weiterentwicklung der Umweltleitlinien an der British Library“

Um ihre Sammlungen zu bewahren, müssen kulturelle Institutionen die Ursachen für Schäden, einschließlich Umweltfaktoren, verstehen und abmildern. In der Vergangenheit wurde dies in der British Library durch Richtlinien geregelt, die über Jahrzehnte hinweg—häufig ohne übergreifende Vorgaben—und als Reaktion auf wechselnde Anforderungen entwickelt wurden. Infolgedessen waren diese Richtlinien oft unzusammenhängend, komplex und nicht relevant für die gegenwärtige Praxis. Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit der Überprüfung, Überarbeitung und Anwendung der Leitlinien. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei die Bedürfnisse der Sammlung, die menschliche, betriebliche und praktische Erfordernisse einbeziehen, das pragmatische Verständnis für Zusammenhangsthemen und eine ausreichende Flexibilität, um Engagement zu fördern und Bibliotheksaktivitäten zu unterstützen, ohne die Sicherheit der Sammlung zu gefährden. Die überarbeitete Richtlinie hat eine Reihe von Vorteilen, nicht zuletzt die Tatsache, dass es sich um ein einziges, prägnantes Dokument handelt. Es verweist ausdrücklich auf Materialtypen und Schwachstellen sowie auf die Anforderungen operativer Aktivitäten und betont die Belange der präventiven Konservierung. Es ist für andere Beteiligte zugänglich, fördert eine wirksame Zusammenarbeit und führt zu erreichbaren Ergebnissen, die der Institution als Ganzes zugute kommen. Als solches hat es die Rolle der präventiven Konservierung innerhalb der Bibliothek gestärkt und eine solide und anpassungsfähige Grundlage für die zukünftige Arbeit geschaffen.

Resumen

“Revisando y desarrollando la política medioambiental de la Biblioteca Británica”

Para preservar sus colecciones, las instituciones patrimoniales deben conocer y mitigar las causas de los daños incluyendo los factores medioambientales. Históricamente, en la British Library, esto se abordaba mediante políticas desarrolladas a lo largo de décadas—a menudo sin una orientación general—y en respuesta a requisitos cambiantes. Como resultado, estas políticas eran a menudo inconexas, complejas y poco representativas de la práctica actual. Este artículo aborda el examen, la revisión y la aplicación de unas políticas con un enfoque en las necesidades de la colección pero incorporando requisitos humanos, operativos y prácticos; la comprensión pragmática de los problemas que contribuyen a ello; y la flexibilidad suficiente para fomentar el compromiso y apoyar las actividades de la Biblioteca sin poner en peligro la seguridad de la colección. La política revisada ha aportado una serie de ventajas, entre las que destaca su carácter de documento único y conciso. Se hace referencia explícita a los tipos de material y sus vulnerabilidades, así como a los requisitos de las actividades operativas, haciendo hincapié en los aspectos de conservación preventiva. Es accesible a otras partes interesadas, lo que fomenta una colaboración eficaz y conduce a resultados alcanzables que benefician a la institución en su conjunto. Como tal, ha reforzado el papel de la conservación preventiva dentro de la Biblioteca y ha proporcionado una base sólida y adaptable para el trabajo futuro.

摘要

“关于大英图书馆环境政策的修订和制定”

为保护藏品，遗产机构必须了解并减少造成损坏的原因，包括环境因素。几十年来，大英图书馆一直以制定政策来解决这一问题——这些政策往往没有总体指导，且根据不断变化的要求而制定。因此，这些政策总是不连贯、复杂，且无法代表当前实践。本文论述了政策的审查、修订和应用。其依据是对藏品需求的关注，其中包含了对人、操作和实际的需求；对促成问题的务实理解；以及充足的鼓励参与和支持图书馆活动的灵活性，同时又不危及藏品安全。修订后的政策具有多种益处，尤其是它成为了一份单一简明的文件。它明确提及了材料类型和脆弱性，以及操作性活动的要求，强调了预防性保护的事宜。其他利益相关者也可以利用该文件，鼓励有效合作，取得可实现的成果，使整个机构受益。因此，它加强了预防性保护在图书馆中的作用，并为今后的工作提供了坚实的、可调整的基础。

Keywords:

• environment
• environmental policy
• environmental parameters
• documentation
• collection care
• preventive conservation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank their colleagues at the British Library for their input and support with this project; in particular, we would like to thank Cordelia Rogerson, Head of Collection Care & Metadata Management, British Library, for permission to publish this article. Paul Garside was employed at the British Library when the majority of this work was developed.

Notes

1 Cf. Canadian Conservation Institute, ‘Agents of Deterioration’, https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/agents-deterioration.html (accessed 13 July 2022); and D. Alex Dawson, ed., Benchmarks in Collection Care for Museum, Archives and Libraries (2.0): A Self-Assessment Checklist (London: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, 2011).

2 Paul Garside, Karen Bradford, and Sarah Hamlyn, ‘The Use of “Combined Reporting” to Support Preventive Conservation at the British Library’, in Transcending Boundaries: Integrated Approaches to Conservation. ICOM-CC 19th Triennial Conference Preprints, ed. Janet Bridgland (Paris: ICOM-CC, 2021), 219, https://www.icom-cc-publications-online.org/4457/The-use-of-combined-reporting-to-support-preventive-conservation-at-the-British-Library (accessed 7 September 2022).

3 Paul Garside and Karen Bradford, ‘Reassessing the Environmental Requirements of the British Library’, Papyrus (IAMFA) Summer Issue (2016): 34–5.

4 See Garside, Bradford, and Hamlyn, ‘The Use of “Combined Reporting” to Support Preventive Conservation at the British Library’.

5 See Garside, Bradford, and Hamlyn, ‘The Use of “Combined Reporting” to Support Preventive Conservation at the British Library’.

6 British Standard Institution, BS 4971:2017: Conservation and Care of Archive Library Collections (London: The British Standards Institution, 2017): 5.1.2, Environmental stability.

7 Cf. BS 4971:2017: 5.1.3, Temperature and RH for traditional mixed archive collections; and BS 4971:2017: Appendix A.3.

8 See, for example, Paul Garside and Barry Knight, ‘The Behaviour of Books in Changing Environmental Conditions and the Implications for Collection Storage’, in Proceedings of the ICOM Committee for Conservation, Preprints of the 16th Triennial Conference (ICOM-CC, 2011), 359, https://www.icom-cc-publications-online.org/1181/The-Behaviour-of-Books-in-Changing-Environmental-Conditions-and-the-Implications-for-Collection-Storage (accessed 7 September 2022).

9 Cf. for example, Paul Garside and Lesley Hanson, ‘A Systematic Approach to Selecting Inexpensive Conservation Storage Solutions’, Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies 9 (2011): 4–10.

10 Garside and Knight, ‘The Behaviour of Books in Changing Environmental Conditions’.

11 British Standard Institution, BS EN 15999-1:2014: Conservation of Cultural Heritage—Guidelines for Design of Showcases for Exhibition and Preservation of Objects—Part 1: General Requirements (London: The British Standards Institution, 2014); British Standard Institution, BS EN 15999-1:2014: Conservation of Cultural Heritage—Guidelines for Design of Showcases for Exhibition and Preservation of Objects—Part 2: Technical Requirements (London: The British Standards Institution, 2014).

12 This work was originally developed under the-then current British Standard, PAS 198:2012: Specification for Managing Environmental Conditions for Cultural Collections (London: The British Standards Institution, 2012). For library and archive collections, this has now been superseded by BS 4971:2017: Conservation and Care of Archive and Library Collections (London: The British Standards Institution, 2017). More broadly, for a wider range of museum objects and materials, BS EN 16893:2018: Conservation of Cultural Heritage—Specifications for Location, Construction and Modification of Buildings or Rooms Intended for the Storage or Use of Heritage Collections (London: The British Standards Institution, 2017) is relevant.

13 Cf. for example, Stefan Michalski, ‘Agents of Deterioration: Light, Ultraviolet and Infrared’, Canadian Conservation Institute, https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/agents-deterioration/light.html (accessed 8 January 2022).

14 The British Library, ‘About Us’, The British Library, https://www.bl.uk/about-us; The British Library: ‘Our Vision’, https://www.bl.uk/about-us/our-vision; and The British Library: ‘Custodianship’, https://www.bl.uk/about-us/our-vision/custodianship (all accessed 26 November 2023).

15 Cf. British Standard Institution, BS 4971:2017: Conservation & Care of Archive & Library Collections: Appendix A; Sarah Staniforth, Bob Hayes, and Linda Bullock, ‘Appropriate Technologies for Relative Humidity Control for Museum Collections Housed in Historic Buildings’, in Preventive Conservation Practice, Theory and Research, ed. Ashok Roy and Perry Smith (London: International Institute for Conservation, 1994), 123–8; Sarah Staniforth, ‘Conservation Heating to Slow Conservation: A Tale of the Appropriate Rather than the Ideal’ (Experts’ Roundtable on Sustainable Climate Management Strategies, April 2007, Tenerife, Spain), https://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/paper_staniforth.pdf (accessed 7 December 2023); Nigel Blades et al., ‘Conservation Heating 24 Years On’, Studies in Conservation 63, suppl. 1 (2018): 15–21; Tim Bowden, ‘Sensible Heating—Balancing Energy Consumption, Comfort and Conservation’, BuildingConservation.com (Cathedral Communications Ltd), https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/sensible-heating/sensible-heating.htm (accessed 1 September 2022).

16 Garside, Bradford, and Hamlyn, ‘The Use of “Combined Reporting” to Support Preventive Conservation at the British Library’.

17 The dedicated storage areas are known to be significantly more environmentally robust, and are buffered both by the structure of the buildings and the mass of objects held within them, so similar escalation procedures are not required in these locations, instead relying on adequate monitoring and staff response.

18 Cf. The British Library, ‘Transforming Boston Spa’, https://www.bl.uk/projects/boston-spa-plans (accessed 31 August 2022); The British Library: ‘Building the Future’, https://www.bl.uk/projects/building-the-future; The British Library: ‘Major Step Closer to British Library Site at Temple Works in Leeds’, https://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2021/july/temple-works; Museums+Heritage Advisor, ‘Repairs to Begin at Egyptian-inspired Building and Potential British Library Site’, https://advisor.museumsandheritage.com/news/repairs-begin-egyptian-inspired-building-potential-british-library-site/ (all accessed 5 September 2022).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Garside

Paul Garside studied chemistry the University of Southampton, where he remained to carry out research for a PhD investigating the properties of natural polymer fibres (awarded in 2002). He subsequently joined the Textile Conservation Centre as a researcher and lecturer for the centre’s MA in textile conservation. He joined the British Library as Conservation Scientist in 2009, managing scientific analysis, environmental assessment and development of risk-management strategies. In 2021 he joined the Kelvin Centre for Conservation and Cultural Heritage Research (University of Glasgow) as Lecturer in Conservation Science.

Karen Bradford

Karen Bradford graduated with a degree in Conservation and Restoration from London Metropolitan University in 2010, and subsequently worked as a preventive conservator at Historic Royal Palaces. She joined the British Library in 2012 as part of the preventive conservation team, and her current role is as Collection Care Monitoring Conservator, covering pest management, emergency planning, environmental monitoring and training. She is also Secretary of the Icon Care of Collections Group.