Last year we had four million requests for items in the reading rooms alone and we had 470,000 people in the library looking at items. So conservation is vital because if items are not in a condition that they can be handled and consulted by readers, then they simply can't be seen. We're standing in the British Library Centre for Conservation and this building was created specially for the Conservatives at the British Library to enable our work to support the collection items. Last year conservation conserved 1,800 items. Some conservation projects can take many months, they can be very complex and involved, but a really growing area for us is running repairs, which is items that are treated in 10 hours or less. This means that anyone in the library from a reader or a member of staff can identify a book that needs minor repair and it will come into the conservation studios, be treated and get back onto the shelf so that you can consult them very quickly. This is a really vital area to make sure that the running of this library is smooth and that everybody gets access to as many items as possible. When I first received this item, the first thing I noticed was the spine was damaged and the front bulb was off, completely detached. The back bulb was okay so what it needs doing is repair to the spine and reattach it in the front bulb. To do that we need to remove some of the spine linings to get a new lining in there. We used a paste on the spine just to slowly put some moisture into the linings. That way they come off easier. We would put new linings on just a very thin line in this time so the book will open better. The spine was repaired with matching cloth, just visual, just purely visual and a bit of strength. Then used the original tapes which we uncovered when we took the spine linings off to reattach the front bulb and then the post downs or the endpapers were put back and that was it, ready to go. It is essential that we do look after our collections. It is a unique, absolutely unique and this is one of the greatest libraries in the world. If we don't actually care for our collections then nobody can consult them. There is a constant demand for conservation work at the British Library. Your donation can help support this work and you can find out more about our work and how you can support us on the British Library website.