Preservation of the Rare Books and Historical Archives of San Francisco Theological Seminary for the Next 150 Years

FAIN: PG-287872-22

University of Redlands (Redlands, CA 92374-3755)
Christopher Ocker (Project Director: January 2022 to present)

A preservation assessment of the rare books and archives of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, along with the purchase of rehousing and environmental monitoring supplies and training on their use.

For the first time in San Francisco Theological Seminary's 150-year history, this project will complete a preservation survey of its Rare Books and Archives. In this project, a book and paper conservator will perform a conservation assessment of each of 6740 Rare Books printed from the beginning of European printing to the near present. She will complete a visual conservation assessment of 1200 linear feet of archival manuscripts, photographs, clippings, and pamphlets dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She will select climate monitoring equipment and preservation and archival boxes and folders to be purchased for the protection of the rarest materials at high risk of loss, and provide training to use these things. She will make preliminary observations on the suitability of storage and usage spaces. The project will culminate in a report outlining remedies, to inform near-term budget planning and a long-term strategic plan for Special Collections.