By Jessica Dame, Metadata Librarian, SC State Library - National Preservation Week (April 26-May 2, 2015) is a week of connecting communities to preserve personal and shared collections. Much of the preservation methods addressed center around personal collections, institutional collections, and special areas such as born-digital, textiles, scrapbooks, and art. These are all essential areas to focus on, but to succeed in creating a society that cares for its cultural heritage; it is important to start awareness in childhood. Preservation awareness for children is an important part of the library experience. With the fun of checking out stacks of books comes the responsibility of caring for your loaned materials.
This year the South Carolina State Library is sending Preservation Week packets to public library systems across the state that includes bookmarks, handouts, and articles on preservation awareness for children. The bookmarks are designed to interest K-5. The bookmarks featuring State Library lions Sol and Edgar come in an array of colors with simple preservation tips on the back. The handouts are designed for parents and further highlight the many ways children can care for their library books.
The topic was inspired by the article Encouraging Preservation Awareness in Children by Andrea Rolich in a 2002 issue of Archival Products News. Rolich’s article brings awareness to the topic of teaching young readers the practice of caring for library materials. This is something many librarians do naturally, but is not often discussed or supported. One of the points Rolich makes is that there should be bookmarks readily available to hold places in books, rather than using objects or laying a book face down (which can harm the book’s spine). This led to the idea of creating bookmarks as a way to reach children.
Preservation awareness can be taught to anyone, at any time. If awareness is taught from a young age, individuals will grow up with an awareness and understanding of the importance of taking care of our collective heritage. This can lead to a better preserved past for our future.
