Preserving Family Treasures

The upcoming month of October happens to be Family History Month. For all you genealogy buffs and future historians out there, here are a few tips on how to best care for the family heirlooms.


Preservation Highlight: Caring for the Collection with Tie-Boxes

Sometimes, the best way to preserve a book and its information is to leave it in its delicate condition and make a sturdy safe place for it to live. This is where our custom made boxes come in! We use preservation grade materials and best practices to ensure the longest life for our collection. The last thing we want is to harm the books by using acidic boards or glues that will speed their deterioration.


Preservation Highlight: Thinking Outside the Pamphlet

There are many people working at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh who go unseen. We are the ones behind Staff Only doors, the ones who process and repair books and so much more. Here in the Conservation, Preservation and Access Department (CP&A) we are trying to share more of what we do with the general public. We are a small staff working primarily with the Library’s older and more fragile collection.


Discover Historic Bookbinding: Book Bling

Like any well-loved tool or object, books have been decorated and embellished from their infancy. You know that feeling you get when you pick up a book that is such a joy to be holding? The distinguished spine catches your eye as your hand wraps around the boards perfectly, and as you crack open the front cover you are hit by a symphony of color and marks. You haven’t even gotten to the information yet, and you’re already under the book’s spell. We know that feeling, too.