Inside ZSR
Libraries are so important to our individual communities. This was my primary thought as I finished a week of book repair workshops across North Carolina. I began teaching book repair in 2004 with the North Carolina Preservation Consortium (NCPC). In 2004, I was involved with NCPC and had two training days at the Etherington Conservation... more ›
We all try to describe the work we do to others. Many times, it is an abstraction to the listener, who must ask additional questions to understand. Helping others understand our work can be tricky. For the past three years, my work has really focused strongly on enclosures (archival boxes, pamphlet binders, Colibri dust jackets,... more ›
I am returning to our theme for Mentoring Month – unexpected and reinvigorating mentoring experiences. I have had the privilege of having Student Assistants in ZSR Library for almost 30 years. These experiences with these students left me dumbfounded, amazed and awed by these incredible individuals. Is this mentoring from the bottom up? I’ll share... more ›
Biblio Tech Binding Workshop From April 5 to June 21, each Tuesday night from 6-8:30 pm, I attended an online workshop with Karen Hanmer. Karen possesses the knowledge of how books are constructed from the beginning to the present. She is a wonderful teacher. The workshop, entitled Biblio Tech, is geared toward making historical and... more ›
Photograph of Leslie MacWeeney by Alen MacWeeney In April of 2020, I was able to locate and interview Dolmen Press artist, Leslie MacWeeney. Just finding Leslie and being able to interview her was a thrill. I did a blog post in Irish Ink about her in 2016. However, it’s one thing to read about someone... more ›
It’s March, 2020, and I’m home. When can I safely go back to work again? This question reverberated in my brain, and I’m sure the brains of all of my colleagues at ZSR Library. Slowly, I began to wonder how and if I could do my work, which is primarily, hand work. As this idea... more ›
How does one, who primarily performs hand work in their job, keep their fingers nimble during a quarantine? For me it was taking a series of 10 book making workshops. The workshops were taught remotely through the Book Arts Program at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah. The university has had a Book... more ›
As Preservation Librarian, my work in the Preservation Lab and as part of Special Collections & Archives, covers a wide variety of work. I thought I would share my statistics as an annual report, which details my work in ZSR Library for FY 2018-2019. 763 Book Repairs (General Collections) 28 Book Repairs (Special Collections) 593... more ›
I thought it would be good to have my students write about their training experiences in Preservation. Each student receives a variety of training experiences in Preservation, and each one brings a unique set of skills as well. I have asked each of my Student Assistants to write about their training. These students do great... more ›
I recently co-published an article in the Guild of Book Workers (GBW) Newsletter and I thought I’d share about the research and writing process. The article was a Q&A that evolved from previous interviews I wrote for the Newsletter. I decided to interview one or two Preservation Librarians, who were doing similar work to mine... more ›