Hello, my name is Rachel Lapkin and I am the Library Materials Conservator for Brown Universitys John Hay Library. This Exhibit Conservation Guidelines presentation will introduce you to basic concepts for handling Browns library materials during the different stages of an exhibition: planning, installation, display, and removal. Please take note that there are conservation restrictions on displaying certain materials because of condition, exhibition length, or gallery location. My role is to work with you, the exhibition curator, to make sure your vision is realized while keeping materials in good condition for future use.

To establish our focus, I would like to define both exhibits and the role of conservation during an exhibition.

(The Application) For those of you interested in curating an exhibit in one of Brown University’s library galleries using library materials, you need to fill out an exhibition proposal. You can link to this proposal from the Exhibition page on the library web site. Please have in mind the title, a brief description of the exhibit and materials to be displayed, and the preferred location and dates for the exhibit. Proposals should be submitted at least six months before the date desired for the majority of display areas. Proposals for the John Hay Library Exhibition Gallery should be submitted 18 months to two years before the date desired. Once your proposal has been approved by the Exhibition Committee, you should prepare a list of materials for display.

(Preparation) Exhibit Planners must select and request materials for the exhibition and place them on reserve under the exhibit name at least six months prior to installation. Contact the Library Materials Conservator with your initial object list or items placed on reserve as soon as possible, at least six months at the earliest, and four months at the latest, in advance of the installation to review materials and discuss display.

(Installation) The Conservator will work with you to install any items that are fragile, or have been prepared for display with custom mounts.

(De-installation) And the Conservator will work with you to remove these items when the exhibition closes.

Exhibits are very tough on library materials because they are fixed in one position for months at a time in a different environment from the stacks or the Reading Room. There are five factors to consider when evaluating these materials for display: their physical condition; hours of light exposure during the exhibit; the environment, temperature and relative humidity of the gallery area; materials and props needed for display; and the overall design or layout of materials.

The Physical Parts and Mechanics of a Book include: The Binding. The binding is the style in which the book is put together. This is an Ethiopian binding, with decorated leather over wooden boards, sewn through the fold with an exposed spine. The Support. The support refers to the page material within the book. Support materials include paper made from different fibers, and parchment. This Ethiopian manuscript is made up of parchment supports as indicated by the blue arrow. Media is the term used to describe how letters and images are placed on the support, from printed to hand applied colors. This manuscript media is made up of multi colored hand applied inks in brown/ black and red, and pigments in reds, yellows, purple, etc. as indicated by the green arrow. The Structure. The structure of the book identifies how parts of the book are put together. This Ethiopian manuscript’s boards are attached to the text block at each of the four sewing stations, where the cords are laced through.

Proper handling of library materials during an exhibition means that the binding, support, media, and structure of the book are not strained while information is on display. Bindings are rarely flexible beyond a 90-100 degree opening. 90 degrees means that I start looking for strains in the support, sewing, board attachment, and materials when the opening is positioned at a right angle. No bound book should ever be opened and displayed to 180 degrees, or so the boards lay flat.

Problematic damage that could determine the eligibility for display includes detached boards, broken sewing, brittle supports, fading media.

Limitations and restrictions for display include degree of opening and case sizes for tight bindings and oversized materials, and exhibition length for damaged supports and sensitive media.

Display requirements involve best practices for handling and caring for library materials while they are on exhibit. This public face represents the library’s commitment to collections care and is to be regarded as promoting and highlighting these materials, not placing restrictions on exhibition content or creativity.

An item’s physical condition should be considered when selecting materials for exhibition. Not all materials can withstand the hardships of display. The conservator reserves the right to limit the length of display, or refuse display of sensitive or fragile materials. In every case, options for representing sensitive or fragile materials will be explored and accommodated using all available library resources

Light damage is cumulative and irreversible. Light can cause paper to bleach, yellow, darken, or weaken fibers. It can cause medias and dyes used in documents, photographs, textiles, and artworks to fade and change color. Light provides energy to fuel those chemical reactions that produce deterioration. All light: UV (shorter wavelengths, greater frequency, more energy), visible, and infrared are damaging. Particularly light sensitive materials such as brittle paper, photographs, and multi-colored media are not good candidates for exhibition.

Lux (metric) and footcandles (yes, based on candle light) are light measurement units that can be recorded, and then used to calculate maximum display times for different objects. A typical allowance for light exposure is 7-800 hours per exhibit at 50 lux (5fc) which is approximately 8 hours a day for 3 months. If an area registers greater than 50 lux, for example, 100 lux, an item may be on display for only half the amount of time. 

Some items may be exhibited for short periods of time when replacements, facsimiles or other originals rotated in and out, are proposed. To prevent uneven fading, nothing may be placed over any portion of any object on display. Each exhibit location has different restrictions for safer light exposure of materials.

Some items are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and relative humidity and might not be suitable for exhibition where the environment cannot be adequately controlled. Good examples of this are parchment and vellum materials which suffer in unstable environments. Optimal environments are those that are constant, and typically run at 65 degrees F with plus or minus 5 degree changes in temperature, and 45% relative humidity with plus or minus 5% changes.

High humidity areas cause skins and paper to swell, where as high temperature, low humidity areas cause the same materials to dehydrate: both conditions causing bindings, supports, media, and structure to flex and become unstable.

When exhibition cases do not have a free exchange of airflow with the gallery environment, there can be problems relating to off-gassing, especially with wood and adhesives, and to trapping air from seasonal shifts in the outside environment that may be too wet/dry, hot/cold for long term displays.

The Conservator will make determinations on a case by case basis for displaying materials sensitive to temperature and rH.

The library has a supply of prefabricated book supports that are suitable for displaying materials during the course of an exhibit. Plexiglas angled wedges are made of an inert plastic that will not off-gas within a display case, and provide both support and elevated viewing angles for materials. Nitrogen expanded polyethylene foam wedges often used in the Reading Room are also inert and offer support and subtle presentation angles for library materials. Most of these prefab offerings will not be suitable for the unique collection as is, and the Conservator will either advise on a combination of supports or custom make a cradle for your exhibition display.

Flat materials such as broadsides or closed books will be displayed on top of a mat board support made of pH neutral or alkaline buffered, cotton rag board.

Polyethylene strapping (shown in the plexiglas book support image) and strapping made from lightweight Japanese tissue will need to be wrapped around page openings to secure books to the support and prevent fly-away pages during the exhibit.

No water based adhesives (glue) will be used to create book supports, and the Conservator will apply any pressure sensitive adhesives (tape) during installation.

Cases around the Brown University Library’s various display areas can have surfaces (or decks) made out of stained wood, covered cloth, and topped by glass lids either hinged on or affixed. Library materials should never be placed directly on any deck surfaces as the wood stain can migrate and off-gas, and cloth has a toothy texture that will catch ragged edges, and hold on to leather crumbs from previous displays. Please work with the conservator to clean any deck surfaces of debris from previous exhibits before installing your materials.

Soft bag weights, and other commonly used book weights are not acceptable tools for display. The Conservator will work with you to secure page openings using appropriate materials and strapping methods. Unfortunately, because of the dyes used to color papers and board materials, it is difficult to add bright, bold colors to an exhibit by way of book and paper supports. However, you may want to consider adding color to your exhibit labels, or leaving room for colorful image reproductions within the case displays to break up the cream/ tan/ brown hues.

Brown University’s rich library collections are so inspiring and abundant, it may be difficult to edit your selections for exhibition. However, it is important to remember your audience and the different gallery spaces so you can address visitors with the appropriate amount of information, instead of confusing them with too much.

Space to look. When you are selecting items for exhibit cases, keep in mind that you will need room for sizable, legible labels. You will not have space for as many items as you might think if you are going to adequately label them, and allow people who do not know these materials as well as you do, room to view them. If one case addresses two different themes, or you have a number of small, related items, these can be grouped on large undermats, or itemized on a single label to economize space.

As stated in the very beginning of these guidelines, Curators and Conservators have very different roles, even though conservation restrictions for display may influence an exhibit’s curation. The curator should work with other members of the Exhibition Committee, or library staff, to help with content, label design, and overall exhibition presentation. The Exhibition Committee members are familiar with the challenges of putting together an exhibit, and are excellent resources for your curatorial needs and questions.

Remember to take into account the physical breadth and depth of a book. An open book footprint depends on the thickness of the book, the flexibility of the binding, and the chosen opening. If the display case allows for angled props for flat objects or open books, this will influence the layout as well. Interleaving attached to a book page may not be removed for display, but has to be secured out of the way while remaining intact. Displaying a book opening is never as easy as doubling the width, approximating the height, and assuming text and images will be easy to read or see.

Thank you for completing this presentation on Exhibit Conservation Guidelines. Please keep in mind the information covered in this presentation when preparing an exhibit with Brown’s library materials. Please contact me with further questions about exhibition display. I look forward to working with you.