A Manifestation of Life: Preservation at The New York Botanical Garden Library by Robert DeCandido

A Manifestation of Life:
Preservation at The New York Botanical Garden Library by Robert DeCandido "A book is a part of life, a manifestation of life, just as much as a tree..." Henry Miller The Cosmological Eye, "Un Etre Etoile" (1939).
The New York Botanical Garden, located in the north-central Bronx, is an institution dedicated to studying, nurturing and preserving the natural world. That dedication is complemented by its Library's long-standing commitment to the preservation of its collections. The Garden has an abiding interest in the conservation of biodiversity, and the Library has been actively engaged in conserving diversity of a different sort, since the mid-sixties. It is one of the older library preservation programs in existence, and has grown from a mere seedling to full flowering as integral part of the Library's functions. To better understand this program we need a better understanding of the environment in which it evolved. At the heart of The New York Botanical Garden stands a grove of hemlocks, one of the very few remnants of a forest that first flourished here 7,000 years ago in the wake of the glaciers of the last Ice Age. Two thousand years ago the climate warmed and most of the hemlocks retreated northward but here, in this 40 acre forest, a vestige remained. It continues today in a stable but not static balance: the change is constant but the hemlock forest persists, a direct descendant of those ancient woods. The existence of the Garden testifies to humanity's struggle to maintain, to nurture and to stabilize. We do this, not with the magisterial elegance of hemlocks but in the way that only people can, through careful study and understanding. So the Garden is not just a garden, it is also a scholarly institution of considerable standing. Heart and center If the forest is at the metaphorical heart of the Garden, the Library is at the intellecual heart. (The herbarium is the other half of the core research facilities at the Garden.) Like the forest it is small but specialized. Small, that is, compared to a large university library. It is, though, one of the world's largest collections of plant science literature with over 110,000 titles comprising 254,000 volumes, over 3,000 linear feet of reprints, archives and microforms, some 150,000 architectural plans, about 100,000 photographic images and 3,000 ethnobotanical artifacts. The institution in which this library exists is much more like a museum than a university and and is an accredited member of American Association of Museums. As such, the Library's primary role is to support the work of a staff of over 30 researchers. It is only to staff that Library materials are circulated and then only for use at the Garden. Though open to the public, the Library has obviously grown and coevolved with the scientific research programs. Taxonomy and systematic botany is one of the Garden's scientific strengths. The description and classification of species is an overriding concern of many of the staff and the subject of a good deal of the literature collected by the Library. (A recent survey indicated that the Garden Library holds over 75% of the world's literature on systematic botany.) In such an atmosphere it is not difficult to understand why, in the mid-sixties, recataloging the Library became a high priority. The first preservation efforts were an outgrowth of that project. As volumes were pulled for recataloging they were cleaned and, if needed, put in protective enclosures or pamphlet binders. Slowly this program was expanded as the staff grew in expertise. More and better enclosures were devised, the ability to reback and recase volumes was implemented, outside conservators were contracted to do specially funded projects. A Pleasant Seat All this started and continues today in the most pleasant space I have ever seen alloted to a preservation program. Unlike most workshops that find themselve tucked in the corner of a basement, the conservation lab sits on the top floor of the library, its large windows facing north, overlooking the wooded margins of the Bronx River. It is a comfortable space, at once homey and functional--not changed greatly since the time I worked there, repairing books, 20 years ago. Judith Reed, the Library's Conservation Librarian, who has been involved with the program since its inception, presides here with Erin Vigneau, the Conservation Assistant. Judy has seen preservation develop at the Library in response to the needs as well as the nature of the institution. To give an example of how that is true, consider that microfilming can play, at most, a very small part in the preservation of this collection. As with the other biological sciences, the literature botany depends heavily on illustration. Even more so than the others it depends on color illustrations. You need only think about how useless black and white pictures of roses or apples would be to see the reasons for this. Add to this the need to compare illustrations from several sources simultaneously or to compare illustrations with specimens and it is obvious how inadequate microfilm is for much botanical research. Digitization holds much more potential for enhancing both preservation and access and John F. Reed, the Director of the Library (and Judy's husband), is anxiously awaiting developments in this field. In the meantime preserving its collections in their original form must be the highest priority. The Library has been pursuing this goal in a systematic manner. In 1989/90 it conducted, with aid from a New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grant, a general conservation survey. Many libraries have done similar plans. What is noteworthy about this library is the methods with which they are using to achieve their goals. Preserving for Access One of the distinguishing characteristics of the program, dating back to 1987, has been its development of databases containing condition and treatment information. Developed in concert with the Research Librarian and the cataloging staff these databases have enhanced both preservation and access. Unlike some (perhaps most) libraries where preservation and access are perceived as competing and even conflicting priorities, the Garden's Library has cultivated a symbiotic relation between the two. The preservation databases include proper bibliographic or identification entries and adequate access points to make them useful research tools. For the fully cataloged general collections this was not crucial but as the preservation program moved on to tackle some of the special collections their experience at item by item surveys paid off. Whatever the cause, be it the enlightened female mind or the beneficial effects being surrounded by flowers or just intelligent application, this is an admirable program, one worthy of being a model. The first of these new projects was to examine the field collectors' notebooks that are a part of the institution's archive. The database created by this survey gives the preservation program execellent data on the general condition of the collection, a complete record of the treatment needs of each item and a powerful tool for projecting needs, making proposals and generating preservation task lists. It has already helped them to begin treating these books. Not coincidentally the database is also the best finding aid and access point for researchers using the collection. This project illustrates two significant aspects of the way in which this program works. First it has taken advantage of the Library's relatively small size to examine collections in depth and item by item. (I would find it hard to credit coincidence for the similarity between the thoroughgoing descriptions of books in the Library's condition survey and the similarly exacting descriptions of species in these very same field collectors' notebooks.) The second characteristic this project illustrates is the way in which the preservation program is integrated with the rest of the Library. Though they have also completed surveys and begun treatment on several other collections (rare books, large and small folios, and published flora) these same qualities are best illustrated by their treatment of the Lord & Burnham archive of architectural drawings. Lord & Burnham The Lord & Burnham Company was for over 100 years the leader in greenhouse manufacturing in the United States. The Garden's own Enid Haupt Conservatory was built by them. When the company went out of business in the 1980's it donated its archive to The New York Botanical Garden Library. Though poorly housed in old inadequate wooden shelves and cabinets, miraculously, almost the entire drawings collection had been stored flat. Numbering ca. 150,000 items, they dated from late 19th to mid-20th century (earlier material had been destroyed in a fire) and included a bewildering array of material, sizes and conditions. Putting together funding from no less than four sources, the New York State Library Preservation/Conservation Discretionary Program, the Institute of Museum Services, the H. W. Wilson Foundation and the Kress Foundation, John Reed cobbled together the resources to create a project to rehouse, survey and begin treatment of this huge collection. To date more than a third of the drawings, 58,000, have been surveyed and properly stored. In the process Erin Vigneau and Eléonore Kissel, the Kress Foundation Intern, learned to identify the many techniques that have been used to reproduce architectural drawings. They have written up their identification methodology in monograph form and are intending to publish them. Typically this project involved other parts of the library and library staff. The survey instrument was designed to meet access needs. It is organized around project level records, each project being, typically, one building. Inventories of drawings and drawing types are part of the project level record. This allows them to extract records to create either finding aids or preservation assessments. Because preservation had made this collection more accessible and because these drawings are significantly different from the rest of the Library's material the entire Library staff was kept well-informed about the project. Where necessary they were instructed on how to handle and transport the drawings and how to teach users to place them back in folders. This is the sort of interrelationship that is much more difficult in large institutions and that is too often not achieved even in smaller organizations. Still Fun Considering how much they have accomplished with just two full-time staff, an occasional intern and several volunteers one might expect an atmosphere of grim determination. It is obvious when one visits them that Judy, Erin and Martha Fitzpatrick their current intern, are excited, involved and having a great time. On a recent visit they showed me one of their latest projects. They are rehousing and surveying the Library's Botanical Art and Illustration Collection, about 13,000 items. I first heard about this project when Judy called me several months ago to ask about how we handled the housing of our prints at The New York Public Library. She, Erin and Martha were talking to and visiting several of the art and print collections in the city in preparation for this project. As the Lord & Burnham project has been, the Botanical Art and Illustration Collection project will be largely handled by the new intern. The Garden has a long history of hosting interns from universities who are working on projects, theses and dissertations in botany. The preservation program has put that institutional experience to good use. Judy attempts to structure the internships to insure that worthwhile work is accomplished and that it is a rewarding and valuable experience for the intern. Their visits were part of this process. In doing this project they have developed standard sized containers for the art works. They decided not to mat them, however. Since they expect them to be exhibited only rarely and used as research tools, matting was not a necessay or desireable treatment. By not doing so it was possible to save considerably on space and the cost of housing. Of course a survey was part of the project, and the intern was involved in its development. Access to this collection will be improved by the database that the survey created. John Reed pointed out to me that funding for preservation projects has been available when other funds have not. Because the preservation program is so well integrated into the Library, grants to it have benefitted the whole operation. Unlike so many libraries where preservation is seen as yet one more strain on wilting budgets, at the Garden's Library preservation has become a benefactor. Positive about Negatives The Lord & Burnham and the Botanical Art and Illustration projects were both focused on graphic images and the so is the next project for which the Library is seeking funding. The 1989/90 general conservation survey revealed that half of the Historical Photographic Negative collection, some 6,000 negatives, were on cellulose nitrate or cellulose diacetate stock and therefore at grave risk. Building on their experience with the Lord & Burnham and the Botanical Art and Illustration collections, the Library has started to create a database of the negative collection. This database will be used to select 2,000 images for copying. They also hope to rehouse and survey the extensive glass plate negative collection. Much of the preparation for this project was accomplished with the help of Ana Hoffman, a photo conservator. Over the years, the preservation program staff have worked closely with a number of outside conservators developing a smoothly functioning relationship. It is a mutually beneficial association. The Library gets a more sophisticated grasp of its problems and their solutions as they are exposed to the professional insights of the conservators. The conservators get to work with sophisticated clients that understand their needs and concerns. None of this would happen, of course, if both parties were not willing to communicate and share. Preservation programs must be developed within a context to achieve goals that are appropriate to their circumstances. When they do so with understanding and grace, as they have at the Library of The New York Botanical Garden, they flourish. When they do not, there is hostility and frustration. I can't help wondering if some of the qualities that have so benefitted the program at the Garden, the ability to adapt, the desire to communicate and coordinate, desire to share, are the result of the program being run almost exclusively by women. Not to put too fine a point on it, the program suffers not at all from the macho claptrap to which so many organizations fall prey. Whatever the cause, be it the enlightened female mind or the beneficial effects being surrounded by flowers or just intelligent application, this is an admirable program, one worthy of being a model. Coda Nothing lasts forever. It's a lesson I teach and that I strive to learn. I know it and yet when John Reed told me that the hemlock forest might not survive the another decade, I was stunned. An insect pest is destroying the hemlocks in the northeast and these will go as others have gone. One more unique, precious thing will be gone from the world. Nothing makes preservation so important as our inevitable failures.

A Manifestation of Life:

Preservation at The New York Botanical Garden Library

"A book is a part of life, a manifestation of life, just as much as a tree..."
Henry Miller The Cosmological Eye, "Un Etre Etoile" (1939).

The New York Botanical Garden, located in the north-central Bronx, is an institution dedicated to studying, nurturing and preserving the natural world. That dedication is complemented by its Library's long-standing commitment to the preservation of its collections. The Garden has an abiding interest in the conservation of biodiversity, and the Library has been actively engaged in conserving diversity of a different sort, since the mid-sixties. It is one of the older library preservation programs in existence, and has grown from a mere seedling to full flowering as integral part of the Library's functions. To better understand this program we need a better understanding of the environment in which it evolved.

At the heart of The New York Botanical Garden stands a grove of hemlocks, one of the very few remnants of a forest that first flourished here 7,000 years ago in the wake of the glaciers of the last Ice Age. Two thousand years ago the climate warmed and most of the hemlocks retreated northward but here, in this 40 acre forest, a vestige remained. It continues today in a stable but not static balance: the change is constant but the hemlock forest persists, a direct descendant of those ancient woods.

The existence of the Garden testifies to humanity's struggle to maintain, to nurture and to stabilize. We do this, not with the magisterial elegance of hemlocks but in the way that only people can, through careful study and understanding. So the Garden is not just a garden, it is also a scholarly institution of considerable standing.

Heart and center

If the forest is at the metaphorical heart of the Garden, the Library is at the intellecual heart. (The herbarium is the other half of the core research facilities at the Garden.) Like the forest it is small but specialized. Small, that is, compared to a large university library. It is, though, one of the world's largest collections of plant science literature with over 110,000 titles comprising 254,000 volumes, over 3,000 linear feet of reprints, archives and microforms, some 150,000 architectural plans, about 100,000 photographic images and 3,000 ethnobotanical artifacts.

The institution in which this library exists is much more like a museum than a university and and is an accredited member of American Association of Museums. As such, the Library's primary role is to support the work of a staff of over 30 researchers. It is only to staff that Library materials are circulated and then only for use at the Garden. Though open to the public, the Library has obviously grown and coevolved with the scientific research programs.

Taxonomy and systematic botany is one of the Garden's scientific strengths. The description and classification of species is an overriding concern of many of the staff and the subject of a good deal of the literature collected by the Library. (A recent survey indicated that the Garden Library holds over 75% of the world's literature on systematic botany.) In such an atmosphere it is not difficult to understand why, in the mid-sixties, recataloging the Library became a high priority. The first preservation efforts were an outgrowth of that project. As volumes were pulled for recataloging they were cleaned and, if needed, put in protective enclosures or pamphlet binders. Slowly this program was expanded as the staff grew in expertise. More and better enclosures were devised, the ability to reback and recase volumes was implemented, outside conservators were contracted to do specially funded projects.

A Pleasant Seat

All this started and continues today in the most pleasant space I have ever seen alloted to a preservation program. Unlike most workshops that find themselve tucked in the corner of a basement, the conservation lab sits on the top floor of the library, its large windows facing north, overlooking the wooded margins of the Bronx River. It is a comfortable space, at once homey and functional--not changed greatly since the time I worked there, repairing books, 20 years ago. Judith Reed, the Library's Conservation Librarian, who has been involved with the program since its inception, presides here with Erin Vigneau, the Conservation Assistant.

Judy has seen preservation develop at the Library in response to the needs as well as the nature of the institution. To give an example of how that is true, consider that microfilming can play, at most, a very small part in the preservation of this collection. As with the other biological sciences, the literature botany depends heavily on illustration. Even more so than the others it depends on color illustrations. You need only think about how useless black and white pictures of roses or apples would be to see the reasons for this. Add to this the need to compare illustrations from several sources simultaneously or to compare illustrations with specimens and it is obvious how inadequate microfilm is for much botanical research. Digitization holds much more potential for enhancing both preservation and access and John F. Reed, the Director of the Library (and Judy's husband), is anxiously awaiting developments in this field.

In the meantime preserving its collections in their original form must be the highest priority. The Library has been pursuing this goal in a systematic manner. In 1989/90 it conducted, with aid from a New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grant, a general conservation survey. Many libraries have done similar plans. What is noteworthy about this library is the methods with which they are using to achieve their goals.

Preserving for Access

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the program, dating back to 1987, has been its development of databases containing condition and treatment information. Developed in concert with the Research Librarian and the cataloging staff these databases have enhanced both preservation and access. Unlike some (perhaps most) libraries where preservation and access are perceived as competing and even conflicting priorities, the Garden's Library has cultivated a symbiotic relation between the two. The preservation databases include proper bibliographic or identification entries and adequate access points to make them useful research tools. For the fully cataloged general collections this was not crucial but as the preservation program moved on to tackle some of the special collections their experience at item by item surveys paid off.

Whatever the cause, be it the enlightened female mind or the beneficial effects being surrounded by flowers or just intelligent application, this is an admirable program, one worthy of being a model.

The first of these new projects was to examine the field collectors' notebooks that are a part of the institution's archive. The database created by this survey gives the preservation program execellent data on the general condition of the collection, a complete record of the treatment needs of each item and a powerful tool for projecting needs, making proposals and generating preservation task lists. It has already helped them to begin treating these books. Not coincidentally the database is also the best finding aid and access point for researchers using the collection.

This project illustrates two significant aspects of the way in which this program works. First it has taken advantage of the Library's relatively small size to examine collections in depth and item by item. (I would find it hard to credit coincidence for the similarity between the thoroughgoing descriptions of books in the Library's condition survey and the similarly exacting descriptions of species in these very same field collectors' notebooks.) The second characteristic this project illustrates is the way in which the preservation program is integrated with the rest of the Library.

Though they have also completed surveys and begun treatment on several other collections (rare books, large and small folios, and published flora) these same qualities are best illustrated by their treatment of the Lord & Burnham archive of architectural drawings.

Lord & Burnham

The Lord & Burnham Company was for over 100 years the leader in greenhouse manufacturing in the United States. The Garden's own Enid Haupt Conservatory was built by them. When the company went out of business in the 1980's it donated its archive to The New York Botanical Garden Library. Though poorly housed in old inadequate wooden shelves and cabinets, miraculously, almost the entire drawings collection had been stored flat. Numbering ca. 150,000 items, they dated from late 19th to mid-20th century (earlier material had been destroyed in a fire) and included a bewildering array of material, sizes and conditions. Putting together funding from no less than four sources, the New York State Library Preservation/Conservation Discretionary Program, the Institute of Museum Services, the H. W. Wilson Foundation and the Kress Foundation, John Reed cobbled together the resources to create a project to rehouse, survey and begin treatment of this huge collection. To date more than a third of the drawings, 58,000, have been surveyed and properly stored. In the process Erin Vigneau and Eléonore Kissel, the Kress Foundation Intern, learned to identify the many techniques that have been used to reproduce architectural drawings. They have written up their identification methodology in monograph form and are intending to publish them.

Typically this project involved other parts of the library and library staff. The survey instrument was designed to meet access needs. It is organized around project level records, each project being, typically, one building. Inventories of drawings and drawing types are part of the project level record. This allows them to extract records to create either finding aids or preservation assessments. Because preservation had made this collection more accessible and because these drawings are significantly different from the rest of the Library's material the entire Library staff was kept well-informed about the project. Where necessary they were instructed on how to handle and transport the drawings and how to teach users to place them back in folders. This is the sort of interrelationship that is much more difficult in large institutions and that is too often not achieved even in smaller organizations.

Still Fun

Considering how much they have accomplished with just two full-time staff, an occasional intern and several volunteers one might expect an atmosphere of grim determination. It is obvious when one visits them that Judy, Erin and Martha Fitzpatrick their current intern, are excited, involved and having a great time.

On a recent visit they showed me one of their latest projects. They are rehousing and surveying the Library's Botanical Art and Illustration Collection, about 13,000 items. I first heard about this project when Judy called me several months ago to ask about how we handled the housing of our prints at The New York Public Library. She, Erin and Martha were talking to and visiting several of the art and print collections in the city in preparation for this project. As the Lord & Burnham project has been, the Botanical Art and Illustration Collection project will be largely handled by the new intern. The Garden has a long history of hosting interns from universities who are working on projects, theses and dissertations in botany. The preservation program has put that institutional experience to good use. Judy attempts to structure the internships to insure that worthwhile work is accomplished and that it is a rewarding and valuable experience for the intern. Their visits were part of this process.

In doing this project they have developed standard sized containers for the art works. They decided not to mat them, however. Since they expect them to be exhibited only rarely and used as research tools, matting was not a necessay or desireable treatment. By not doing so it was possible to save considerably on space and the cost of housing.

Of course a survey was part of the project, and the intern was involved in its development. Access to this collection will be improved by the database that the survey created. John Reed pointed out to me that funding for preservation projects has been available when other funds have not. Because the preservation program is so well integrated into the Library, grants to it have benefitted the whole operation. Unlike so many libraries where preservation is seen as yet one more strain on wilting budgets, at the Garden's Library preservation has become a benefactor.

Positive about Negatives

The Lord & Burnham and the Botanical Art and Illustration projects were both focused on graphic images and the so is the next project for which the Library is seeking funding. The 1989/90 general conservation survey revealed that half of the Historical Photographic Negative collection, some 6,000 negatives, were on cellulose nitrate or cellulose diacetate stock and therefore at grave risk. Building on their experience with the Lord & Burnham and the Botanical Art and Illustration collections, the Library has started to create a database of the negative collection. This database will be used to select 2,000 images for copying. They also hope to rehouse and survey the extensive glass plate negative collection.

Much of the preparation for this project was accomplished with the help of Ana Hoffman, a photo conservator. Over the years, the preservation program staff have worked closely with a number of outside conservators developing a smoothly functioning relationship. It is a mutually beneficial association. The Library gets a more sophisticated grasp of its problems and their solutions as they are exposed to the professional insights of the conservators. The conservators get to work with sophisticated clients that understand their needs and concerns. None of this would happen, of course, if both parties were not willing to communicate and share.

Preservation programs must be developed within a context to achieve goals that are appropriate to their circumstances. When they do so with understanding and grace, as they have at the Library of The New York Botanical Garden, they flourish. When they do not, there is hostility and frustration. I can't help wondering if some of the qualities that have so benefitted the program at the Garden, the ability to adapt, the desire to communicate and coordinate, desire to share, are the result of the program being run almost exclusively by women. Not to put too fine a point on it, the program suffers not at all from the macho claptrap to which so many organizations fall prey. Whatever the cause, be it the enlightened female mind or the beneficial effects being surrounded by flowers or just intelligent application, this is an admirable program, one worthy of being a model.

Coda

Nothing lasts forever. It's a lesson I teach and that I strive to learn. I know it and yet when John Reed told me that the hemlock forest might not survive the another decade, I was stunned. An insect pest is destroying the hemlocks in the northeast and these will go as others have gone. One more unique, precious thing will be gone from the world. Nothing makes preservation so important as our inevitable failures.

This article first appeared The New Library Scene
Volume 14, No. 2, April 1995