guidelines for preservation and conservation of library materials at lubiri ss library

Description

The study aimed at developing guidelines for preservation and conservation of library materials at Lubiri SS Library. The objectives of the study were to; establish the current status of preservation and conservation of library materials at Lubiri SS Library, find out how preservation and conservation of library materials at Lubiri SS Library is managed, identify the challenges of preservation and conservation of library materials at Lubiri SS library, and come up with the best practices of preservation and conservation of library materials at Lubiri SS Library. The study applied a case study research design while adopting a qualitative research approach which used interview, document review and observation methods to collect data. The researcher selected one (1) librarian and tree (3) assistant librarians purposively to participate in the study. The library materials brittle, torn, broken spines, and inks were fading. The different preservation techniques used were; cleaning of shelves and the library materials on a daily basis, digitalization of some materials, covering windows, use of rat gum to trap pests, and coating of shelves with acid free paint and so on. The different preservation challenges were; inadequate space for materials, inadequate finance, limited equipments and many others. Preservation of information materials at Lubiri SS Library is carried out right from the time of receiving the information materials, processing, shelving and dissemination of the materials in the library. The project established that this was not effective and requires guidelines to improve on the preservation of library materials. The recommendations for the study were; maximum care of library materials, formulating a preservation committee, training of the library staff, ensuring availability of funds for preservation of library materials, use of acid free boxes, follow up on the use of materials among others.