Library Company Receives Grant for Preservation

The Library Company has received a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to upgrade our environmental monitoring equipment. The grant funds will be used to purchase new dataloggers, a light meter, and a wireless receiver to support constant monitoring of the temperature, humidity, and light levels our collections are exposed to. Installing two dataloggers on each stack floor and one in each gallery will allow us to constantly monitor the collections’ environment and make any necessary adjustments quickly and efficiently. A new light meter will measure both the visible and UV light levels, and can be used to take “snapshot” measurements as well as extended readings of light levels in selected spaces. This is especially important for preserving items on exhibit in our gallery spaces. Chief of Conservation Jennifer Rosner will coordinate the monitoring of information gathered by the new equipment and make any adjustments needed to maintain the proper environment for our collections.