Planning for a Sustainable Preservation Environment

FAIN: PF-266622-19

Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX 79601-3761)
Mac Ice (Project Director: January 2019 to present)

A planning project to improve the storage environment for preserving Abilene Christian University’s special collections and archives, which document the role of evangelical revivalism in American Christianity from the late eighteenth century to the present.  The library holds rare books and nearly 500 manuscript collections related to the Stone-Campbell religious movement (also known as the American Restoration movement), as well as records pertaining to the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) denomination and the non-denominational Churches of Christ and Christian Churches congregations.

The principal activities of this project involve an evaluation of the storage and stacks area of Brown Library that is dedicated to housing Special Collections and Archives (SCA). Given the location of Abilene Christian University (ACU) in West Texas, the performance of the existing HVAC system in its ambient climate presents challenges and opportunities that are currently under-examined, rendering our operation inefficient, under-controlled, and therefore under-utilized to the best advantage of the university in stewarding the collection. We seek an integrated design approach whereby we will evaluate and analyze these conditions and the performance of the HVAC system. The findings of this analysis should surface a variety of potential sustainable remedial solutions that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems, mitigate risk factors such as uncontrolled temperature and humidity variations, and extend the life of the collection.