Preservation Unit
44 Library, MC-522
UIUC Library
1408 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-244-1626
Conservation Lab
Oak Street Library Facility
2nd Floor
809 South Oak Street
Mail Code 527
Champaign, IL 61820
217-265-4198
May 15, 2009
In late September of 2007, Conservation identified mold in the storage vault of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Over the course of 8 months, the staff of the RBML, Preservation & Conservation, Library administration, and Facilities & Services worked closely to plan for and implement a remediation plan. Blackmon-Mooring-Steamatic Catastrophe (BMS CAT) was contracted to complete the cleaning of the collection materials, storage areas, and HVAC systems in a ten-week period. With the outsourced cleaning of collection materials and spaces complete, various UIUC departments and staff members continued isolated cleaning and stabilization of materials well into 2009, beyond the formal end of the remediation project.
The Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds approximately 300,000 volumes and over 7,100 linear feet of manuscript and archival material. The collection also contains audiovisual media on a wide range of formats, as well as three-dimensional items such as over 150 pieces of framed artwork and various artifacts.
The variety of materials housed in the RBML presented considerable challenges for both UIUC staff and the contracted BMS CAT cleaning crews. Warping vellum, decaying leather, fragile paper book jackets, and the many layers within a framed work of art required a great deal of pre-planning by UIUC staff and sensitive handling by BMS CAT crews.
The physical space also offered significant challenges for all involved. The RBML vault comprises two floors with three separate air handling units. Electrical outlets are non-existent in two separate areas, a dumbwaiter provides the only mechanical means for transferring volumes between floors, and compact shelving severely limited the vendor's ability to work multiple teams in one space at any given time.
Once the mold (Aspergillus sp.) was positively identified by University mycologists, Library conservators undertook an item-level assessment of the entire first floor. This assessment required a total of sixty hours to complete, but has provided invaluable information throughout the course of this project.
The assessment confirmed that the mold was widespread throughout the two floors of the storage vault. The assessment also confirmed that the mold was growing on a full range of materials-vellum, leather, paper, and cloth-as well as on the oldest materials to the most contemporary.
BMS CAT mobilized a small crew on February 14th, 2008 to begin the week long cleaning of the three air-handling units along with all associated supply and return vents before beginning on the collections materials. The air-handling units were cleaned by HEPA vacuuming all associated surfaces and then wiping down with an anti-microbial agent (Microban). After the HVAC systems were cleaned, the structure of the library, including ceilings, floors and walls, were also vacuumed and cleaned with an anti-microbial agent. Next, areas of positive and negative pressure were established in the collections area through the use of plastic sheeting, duct tape, zippers and air units.
Additional personnel from BMS CAT arrived to assist in the collection-wide cleaning and received training from Conservation staff regarding care and handling of various formats as well as site-specific policies for enclosures, pamphlet binders, etc. Collection-wide cleaning began on February 25th and lasted until May 8th, 2008.
Project Wrap Up
The BMS CAT-contracted cleaning project concluded on May 9 th with a walkthrough consisting of BMS CAT supervisors and representatives from the Library Administration, RBML and Conservation. Overall, the collections, storage furniture and spaces were remarkably cleaner than before the project began and visible mold growth was significantly reduced. However, mold was still identified on some RBML materials during this review. In one instance, where cleaning protocols were obviously not followed, BMS CAT enlisted a small cleaning crew to immediately remedy the identified situation. For other, more isolated instances, individual items are being cleaned by conservation staff as they are identified. Some problems with shelf order have also been identified since the cleaning project ceased.
In general, Conservation has felt that the process was very efficient and could not have been better accomplished by an in-house cleaning crew, and most certainly could not have been achieved in the same time span. Though the process was harrowing and exhausting for all involved in the project, the cleaning was done as quickly and efficiently as possible and has proved a valuable learning experience for Conservation and RBML staff alike.
Although the mass-cleaning of RBML materials has been completed, there are still many on-going projects and will be for many months to follow:
Challenges/Issues
University Administration
University Risk Management
Library Business Office
Library Facilities Office
Library Administration
Rare Book and Manuscript Library Staff
Preservation and Conservation Staff
BMS Catastrophe
University LibraryFor comments on this page contact: Preservation & Conservation
Last modified by: Annette Morris on 6/18/09