Tips For Preserving Life’s Records

Last spring, the Library of Congress expected about 100 people to attend its first-ever workshop on preservation and conservation. More than 600 showed up - a few librarians, archivists and other professional conservators, and a lot of personal pack rats.

Participants in the event learned how to preserve and store the papers that record our lives: birth certificates, photographs, yellowing newspapers, family bibles, baby books, old LPs, new CDs.

Among their tips: High heat and humidity are killers for printed material, so don’t use attic or basement for storage; books should be kept upright; magnetic photo albums are “the kiss of death,” says one specialist; they contain adhesives that discolor photos and make them stick together; and don’t use lights mounted above framed prints and other works of art on paper; light and heat can be very damaging.