Collections Conservation

The Collections Conservation Unit (CCU) is responsible for assessing and treating general collections materials held by the University of Notre Dame Libraries. General collections include all circulating and reference collections. The Unit is housed in the Reyniers Building and is supported by a conservator (Liz Dube), two collections conservation technicians (Margaret Ankrom and Marsha Meuleman), and student assistants.

Unit staff provide both preventative and remedial physical treatment of the collections to ensure the usability of items in their original format for as long as possible. Treatment techniques are standardized and work is batched to achieve the goals of an efficiently produced, asthetically pleasing, and conservationally and structurally sound product. Physical treatment incorporates a wide variety of techniques, including pamphlet binding, paper mending, hinging in loose pages, reattaching covers, rebinding, and constructing protective enclosures.