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| Michaelle Biddle,
head of Preservation Services, uses a special tool to preserve a book in the
Preservation Services in Olin Library. Biddle and her student technicians
make page mends, reback books and remove mold from pages. |
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| Posted 09.09.05 |
Head of Preservation Services Puts Wesleyan's Books in a Bind
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Q: When were
you hired at Wesleyan and what was your job title then?
A: I was hired in 1983 as the assistant to the librarian. Initially,
I was the clerk of the works for the $10 million library addition that was
added in the mid-1980s. In 1988 I was asked to develop a preservation
program for the library’s circulating collections. Now my job title is head
of Preservation Services.
Q: What do you do?
A: I am responsible for developing and managing the library’s
Preservation Services, with includes the book conservation lab. We are
currently exploring ways in which the Material Processing Marking unit might
cost effectively extend the life of new materials before being put on the
shelves.
Q: What types of publications need preservation treatment?
A: In 1990 I surveyed the circulating collection. This revealed that
50 percent was in need of some type of repair and that 20 percent was on
brittle paper. Because so many items need repair we only review items that
have circulated or been used in one of the libraries.
Q: Are books that need treatment always old?
A: No. In the last 10 years publishers’ bindings have precipitously
declined in quality. We have to repair more and more “new” books though the
19th century collection is in the poorest condition. We did not have air
conditioning in Olin until 1985. Before that time the stacks would reach 120
degrees in the summer – essentially cooking the books.
Q: Tell me about the process of preserving a book.
A: We have a small book conservation lab in the connector between the
Public Affairs Center and Olin. It is furnished with a hood where we take
care of books with mold, various presses, a job backer, a board shear and
many, many specialized binding and conservation tools, cloths and papers. We
rarely rebind a book but do a wide range of repairs – page mends, rebacking,
guarding and cleaning. Book conservation is a specialized field but any 12th
century monk or Gutenberg would be quite familiar with what we do.
Q: What are some recent examples of materials that you have
preserved?
A: Most of the student book repair technicians are preparing more
than 30 folio sized volumes of The Graphic, a popular 19th century English
periodical, for rebinding. It was originally half bound in leather which has
rotted. The covers have come off the text block. The pages are getting torn
and the sewing is coming undone as a result. The students are mending the
tears, and the sewing of the text block, removing the old spine lining and
relining the spines before the volumes will be sent to the library
commercial bindery. When we work on large format books the lab is very
crowded.
One student is working on an 1854 edition of Types of Mankind by Nott and
Glidden for Special Collections. We had a lovely plate that had been found
on the floor of the Olin but no book. It took some sleuthing to find the
correct book, and when we did find the book it needed to be partially resewn
and rebacked.
I am currently working on sewing and rebinding a 1925 book of German
etchings for the Print Reference Collection, as well.
Q: What happens to these materials? Can people check them out, or are
they kept in special collections?
A: The majority of the materials we work on are for the circulating
collections so they can be checked out but some materials are in Special
Collections in Olin and must be used there.
Q: What is your personal interest in these historical materials? Are
you a history buff?
A: I read a couple of books a week – primarily on history, book or
art history though I do love a good mystery.
Q: I understand you recently returned from a voluntary six-week
archeological dig in Petra, Jordan? Why did you decide to do this?
A: Volunteering on an archaeological dig is a way of gaining a
thorough understanding of what has gone on in the past at a specific place.
Petra is an amazingly complex, very large archaeological site and it takes a
long time to explore. I volunteered for the 21st season of the American
Expedition to Petra because it is led by Dr. Philip C. Hammond, an authority
on the Nabateans, the people who built and lived in Petra.
Q: Did you make any big discoveries?
A: This season we were working to establish the northern perimeter of
a plaza that had been found in 2002. It is behind the Temple of the Winged
Lions, the most important Nabatean temple in Petra. The Temple was built in
27 A.D. and destroyed in the massive 363 A.D. earthquake. I discovered some
beads, coins, a lamp and many, many pieces of pottery. Everywhere you walk
there is evidence of human habitation. And the country is spectacularly
beautiful.
Q: What are your degrees in?
A: My bachelor’s degree is in Middle Eastern anthropology and history
from the University of Texas. I apprenticed with Roger deCoverly,
chief binder of the London School of Printing, and over the years have
studied with other book conservators, primarily in Italy. I also have a master’s of library science from
the University of Rhode Island and a certificate in archival management from
The National Archives.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: Refinishing woodwork is my current hobby. My husband, David, and I
bought a house built in 1867 for $1. So far we’ve spent five years taking it
apart, moving it nine miles from Easthampton to Hatfield, Massachusetts,
rebuilding and restoring it. There are acres of woodwork that need to be
refinished. I also create books. I am currently working on one about shoes
found in the desert.
Q: What is your involvement with Middletown Alpha Delta Phi Society?
A: The Alpha Delta Phi Society is located at 185 High Street. We
sponsor free events for the community including literary, film and poetry
series, and a coffee-house series. We also have the oldest,
continuously-operating eating club on campus, the Star & Crescent. I am the
society’s volunteer archivist and last year I published a booklet on the
first century and a half of their history titled Halls, Houses and Eating
Clubs of the Middletown Chapter Alpha Delta Phi Society. In May 2006 we will
be celebrating Alpha Delt’s sesquicentennial.
Q: Tell me about your family.
A: My husband, David, who attended Wesleyan, is Chairman of the Board
of a bio-diesel coop in western Massachusetts. They turn used vegetable oil
into fuel for diesel trucks and cars. After the dig in Petra, David joined
me for a tour of Jordan. His fluency in Arabic facilitates touring in the
Middle East. My son, Christopher, is in his final year of a computer
engineering degree at Kettering University in Michigan.
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| By
Olivia Bartlett, The Wesleyan Connection
editor |
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