Library Collections General Preservation Assessment

FAIN: PG-233878-16

Lawrence Technological University (Southfield, MI 48075-1051)
Adrienne Aluzzo (Project Director: May 2015 to April 2017)

A general preservation assessment for the library’s special collections, which comprise the personal working library of German-American architect Albert Kahn (1869-1942) and photographic collections documenting the development of Lawrence Technological University and the history of Michigan and Detroit. Kahn’s library encompasses 1,440 books, periodicals, and photographs that chronicle his work designing and building commercial, religious, academic, and domestic structures both in Michigan and throughout the United States. The library also holds 8,525 pages of the newspaper Tech News (1933-2008), which relates the history of the university and offers stories of regional and national interest. The collections are used for research and teaching in the university as well as for collaborative projects with other institutions, such as the Detroit Historical Museum.

The Lawrence Technological University Library has special collections in need of a preservation assessment. The Albert Kahn Library consists of the personal collection of books, scrapbooks and photographic folios of renowned architect Albert Kahn, housed in a space created to mirror Kahn's Detroit architectural office, complete with original book cabinets and stained glass windows. This working architect's library is a valuable record of Kahn's design process for his nearly 2,000 building projects. Tech News, the campus newspaper, published in paper format from 1933 to 2008, is stored in multiple locations and showing signs of deterioration. In addition, there are uncataloged photographs, negatives and news clippings related to the development of the university and its place in the history of Michigan and Detroit. A preservation assessment is a vital first step in expanding research access to these collections.