Kent Library to hold free preservation workshop

A free preservation workshop will be offered Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University.

"What's in Your Attic? Decoding the Past through Cultural Artifacts" will be held at 7 p.m. at Sadie's Place in Kent Library.

No registration is required for the workshop, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, according to a university news release.

Randy Silverman, preservation librarian at the University of Utah's Marriott Library, will help participants learn how to care for their artifacts and family heirlooms. With more than 30 years of professional experience, Silverman's workshops engage people in discussions that help them improve the care of their personal collections to safeguard the primary source material on which our history is built, Southeast officials said in the release.

The public is encouraged to bring their personal books, photographs and artifacts for a free preservation consultation, according to the release.

Kent Library is offering the workshop thanks to a $5,910 federal preservation-assistance grant.

In addition to the workshop, the grant allows Kent Library to hire a preservation consultant to assess environmental conditions, storage policies and provide strategies to optimize preservation, including development and implementation of a disaster preparedness and recovery plan.

The consultant's assessment will include a long-range preservation plan. The library hopes to begin implementing short-term recommendations and work on fundraising possibilities to implement long-term preventive conservation strategies by November, Southeast officials said in the release.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Kent Library, Cape Girardeau, Mo.