An outside consultant from a nationally respected conservation center should assess the particular needs of at-risk collections in the Perkins system, propose adequate staffing, and specify preservation facility requirements. The resulting report would support and guide the efforts of the new preservation officer. We would again be emulating our peer institutions to provide the physical infrastructure necessary to carry out appropriate conservation activities. This facility could be located in either new or renovated space. Along with new staff noted above, commercial binding and materials preparation personnel would be incorporated into the program.
Adequate space is critical to house and make collections easily accessible.
As part of a Perkins renovation, add storage space to the present building for a growing, actively used, accessible circulating collection. Space is needed in an open stack environment for general collections and in a secure, closed stack environment for special collections. Construct an off-site storage facility adequate to house significant portions of Perkins and branch collections that are less used but needed for research. Duke's professional school libraries also might make use of this facility. Its use as a central TRLN storage facility could be explored, as well.