Preservation Supplies for the Providence Public Library Wetmore Collection

FAIN: PG-51967-13

Providence Public Library (Providence, RI 02903-3219)
Jordan Goffin (Project Director: May 2012 to April 2016)

The purchase of archival boxes to house 500 of the 1,850 volumes in the Edith Wetmore Collection of Children's Books, ranging in date from the 15th century to the mid-20th century. Particular strengths of the collection are foreign-language titles and original artwork and manuscripts by notable authors and artists. Works include Hungarian texts from the 18th century, Argentinian books of fables published during World War II, and Japanese crepe-paper books from the 18th and 19th centuries. Used for exhibitions, instruction, and research by artists, historians, and literary scholars, the collection was acquired by its donor with careful attention to items in the best possible condition, which is a significant aspect of the books' current value to researchers and artists and the reason protective enclosures are essential.

This project will house five hundred volumes from the Edith Wetmore Collection of Children's books in MicroClimates custom archival boxes purchased from Custom Manufacturing, Inc. The Wetmore Collection comprises works originally produced for the education and entertainment of children across the last five hundred years and from over twenty countries. Many of the items in the collection are fragile, and housing them will allow us to largely fulfill the recommendations of a 2002 conservation and preservation assessment performed on the collection.