Conservation at the National Library of Greece: the transition's aftermath

Abstract

Purpose

The National Library of Greece (NLG) was founded in 1832 and since 1903 it had been housed at the Vallianeio building, a landmark in the center of Athens. With a history of nearly two centuries and significant collections, the library moved its headquarters to its new building at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in 2018. This transfer marks its transition to a new era, a restart for the library and an opportunity for upgrades, improvements and expansion of its services, redefinition of its role and connection to society. In this context, the conservation department contributed greatly to this program, to the successful transfer of collections and paved the way for its upgraded role at its new facilities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reflects on the transition program and part of the projects executed, in terms of expectations and the new reality, under the scope of conservation of collections'. With a critical view, the authors present the Conservation Department's contribution during relocation and the transition's aftermath on the reality of their everyday professional routine.

Findings

Conservators' role emerged during this transition. Lessons learned, new challenges, opportunities and growth in conservation actions, improved communication with departmental liaisons; and targeted communication with the public and end users.

Practical implications

The NLG designed and undertook a broad and complicated transition program under a collaborative scheme between the public and private sectors. Time, budget and human resource limitations did not allow for in-depth documentation and research on the collection status prior to transfer.

Originality/value

The transition of the NLG was a multidimensional program with short and long-term outcomes. The project design and on time and budget execution provided a new set of standards and services for the library and re-established its connections with the public. As such, this case study can contribute to a better understanding and management of actions and expectations in related large-scale projects.

Citation

Gkinni, Z. and Sarris, N. (2023), "Conservation at the National Library of Greece: the transition's aftermath", Library Management, Vol. 44 No. 5, pp. 388-396. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-10-2022-0102

1. Introduction

The National Library of Greece (NLG) was founded in 1832 and since 1903 it had been housed at the Vallianeio building, an imposing neoclassical marble building at the city center, which stands out as one of Athens landmarks. For more than a century, collections were stored in this historic building with passive climate control and one main reading room. In 2006, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation announced its plans to fund the development of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) that included the construction of new facilities for the National Library and the National Opera, as well as the Stavros Niarchos Park. With a history of two centuries and significant collections the Library moved its headquarters to its new building in 2018, after a five-year preparation period. This transfer was a critical opportunity for the Library to upgrade, improve and expand its services and reconsider its connection to society.

This paper provides insight into the conservation tradition of NLG and its contribution to collection transfer. It presents the key points of the transition program as a case study with a successful outcome, collections' preservation and expectations and demands in a new environment. From a critical point of view, it presents the Conservation Department's contribution, role and lessons learned during the transition and the opportunities and improvements in its role and actions as the transition's aftermath.

2. Conservation at the national library of Greece before the transition

The Conservation Service of the NLG was launched in 1978. Typical of the times, it focused mainly on remedial conservation for selected items, with a focus on the special collections, manuscripts, rare books and archives. From 1987 to 2010 the Conservation Service was housed in a spacious and well-equipped studio in one of the library's branches. However, in 2010 it was transferred to Vallianeio where in lack of space and facilities most of preservation activities were limited.

Although traditionally focusing on bindings and remedial conservation, a major large-scale survey was performed in the 1970's by A. Glinos, one of the first book conservators in Greece. Glinos documented the condition of the manuscript and archives collections and provided tailored cotton bags, for each item, before archival boxes were widely available. He also developed a set of indications, which he used to draw on the spine of each enclosure to indicate the state of preservation and the description of the object.

Decades later, in 2014, another large-scale condition survey for part of the manuscript collection was performed with conservators and historians working on the documentation of the manuscripts in a Microsoft Access© database. This documentation was organized partly in view of the upcoming relocation.

In 2015, the conservation department was clearly understaffed with a handful of conservators and binders, focusing on remedial conservation, whereas preventive conservation and research was not organized under a concrete framework.

3. Managing the transition programme

In 2015 intensive preparations begun for the Library's relocation at SNFCC. This included 3 general lines of action: Collections and equipment transfer, administrative transfer of headquarters and development of new services.

Under this framework, the transition program was a precondition for the Library to relocate and cope with its new services and role in an upgraded environment. The Hellenic State supported its new scope with a new regulatory framework, expanding its mandate and enabling it to synchronize with advances in digital technology. Additionally, a new lending department was established, which is quite unique for national libraries, since traditionally they are first and foremost part of research libraries (Elmaloglou et al., 2019).

Before transition, it was clearly understood that the library was relatively neglected, understaffed and lacking in organizational maturity. In 2014 a new Director took over the leadership of the library and there was a call for the recruitment of 21 new employees, among which 5 experienced conservators. The selection fitted a strict set of criteria imposed by the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection. Additionally, conservators had undertaken practical exams, as part of the overall selection procedure.

To design and manage the transition program a “Task Force” was created consisting of NLG staff and external partners. Over a period of three years this team coordinated the implementation of 50 projects under 5 axes, (1) processing and development of the collections, (2) the development of digital services, (3) the creation of a new lending department, (4) the development of the audience and (5) the training of the staff.

The relocation and modernization of the NLG was carried out with the cooperation of the public and private sectors, involving more than 150 NLG employees and 400 external partners working for 167 contractors including universities, medium-sized businesses and large multinational companies, international and domestic publishers, information and communications technology (ICT) companies, creative agencies and individual experts, thanks to the donation of 5,000,000 euros by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the extraordinary grant of the Hellenic State, amounting to 5,200,000 euros.

The transfer project was initiated in the beginning of 2018 as part of the transition project. After three years of intensive preparations for this historic relocation, the transfer of the collections between two central NLG buildings (Vallianeio and Votanikos) and the SNFCC was executed in less than 4 months. This project demanded more than a hundred people on a daily basis and 235 track drives to the SNFCC and was coordinated by the “Transfer management team”, consisting of a civil engineer, two conservators and two administration members. The inclusion of conservators in the team was critical for enhancing the role of conservation within the institution, since traditionally, it did not participate in decision making.

4. Collections' transfer: a chance to assess and organize

Transferring collections was a difficult and complex task since it was necessary to ensure the least possible stress and maximum safety. Conservators were involved in activities divided into the following lines of action with short-term and long-term outcomes/results.

4.1 Collections

This category includes actions applied or related to collections as physical objects. They were designed to have both short and long-term results and benefits for NLG collections and their preservation.

Starting with surveys, the conservation department had not undertaken a wide collection survey for a long period, apart from those aforementioned regarding the special collections. Therefore, it was important to map the type of damages and their frequency per collection and per storage area. In 2016, a condition survey was undertaken for the special collections, focusing on manuscripts and archives. The survey showed that the state of preservation mainly ranged from Fair to Good. Moreover, all items from the general collection housed at the Vallianeio building were examined and prepared for transfer. Although there was not enough time to document the results, notes were taken to indicate cases with severe damage, or future concerns over specific degradation factors.

Condition surveys and collections' examination provided valuable data on collections' status, contributed to the objects' stabilization prior to packing, addressed specific needs for their transfer and forecasted immediate interventions at the new facilities. They also provided a useful insight into the collections' preservation status to all conservators, especially the newly recruited ones.

Actions were organized related to the physical preparation of items before transfer including surface cleaning and stabilization. The general collection and the rare books collection were mechanically cleaned using vacuum cleaners with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, microfiber cloths and soft brushes before transfer. After cleaning, collections were thoroughly examined to detect fragile objects and to prepare valuable bindings for a nonadhesive radio frequency identification (RFID) mounting. Fragile objects were placed in autoclaved bags, and volumes with detached boards were secured with cotton tape. Within the period of a few months around 80,000 items were examined and treated (Gkinni et al., 2017). A small percentage of objects was damaged by mold, inactive at the time of examination and there were no signs of insect infestation. Manuscripts severely damaged by mold were isolated in anoxic conditions, sealed in ESCAL™ film slip cases using RP-K oxygen scavengers by Mitsubishi and oxygen indicators (Sarris et al., 2021).

Finally, conservators provided a set of specifications and requirements for the transfer procedure and media. They supervised collections' transfer and designed two types of transfer containers for the general and special collections. Vallianeio was a difficult building for collections transfer, in terms of its facilities. As a historical building with limited interventions to modernize it, it had no elevators and the access to bookstacks was merely through stairs. That created an extra challenge when dealing with large number of objects, especially for the special collections. Slides were placed were necessary and cranes also helped in the case of the reading room. All external partners were committed to endorse the relevant quality standards and international good practices were followed for collections' packaging and transport.

4.2 Preventive conservation

While in preparation for collections transfer, conservators started documenting the environmental conditions in the Vallianeio. The goal was to have as smooth a transition as possible in the new building's storage environment, although that would pose a challenge, since the Vallianeio had passive environmental control while the SNFCC building had not been assessed for its storage environment.

The SNFCC building on the other hand is located at Faliro Bay by the Athenian coast, in a different environment than the city center. It is the first large-scale cultural project to achieve leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) Platinum certification in Europe in 2016. By integrating active and passive technologies, SNFCC is one of the world's most environmentally sustainable buildings. Its energy efficiency initiatives result in a 40% energy reduction compared to what a similar building complex would consume without their implementation. All systems are designed to save energy, such as heating, air conditioning and lighting. The planted roofs of the NLG, the National Opera and the parking buildings are covered with Mediterranean plants grown in a special substrate, creating cooling conditions for the buildings and acting as a protective layer in both winter and summer. Moreover, a large canopy is suspended over the National Opera, 47m above sea level. The canopy measures 10,000 m², weighs 4,500 tons and is covered with 5,700 solar panels, able to produce up to 2,2 GWhs per year. It contributes substantially to SNFCC's energy needs and minimizes carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (SNFCC, n.d.)

After the transfer to SNFCC, conservators began to collect data of environmental conditions. Starting with identifying and documenting the strengths and weaknesses of all storage areas, the aim was to maximize the new building's potential for a safe storage environment and efficient energy use. The new facilities are tightly sealed, among others to ensure an energy-saving environment. Dataloggers for the monitoring of temperature and relative humidity are placed in ten storage areas and reading rooms and one datalogger for the measurement of light (lux) and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, is placed on the façade of the book castle. It is a flexible and wireless monitoring system that provides a constant real-time view of the environmental conditions.

Throughout 2018, all data collected were assessed and compared to the setpoints (20 °C ± 2 °C, and 45 ± 5% relative humidity (RH)). Although most storage areas had a rather stable environment, there was still room for improvement. Therefore, for 2019 the aim was to improve RH conditions, that is to avoid extreme values (>70% and <20%) and to create two zones. Zone 1 includes the cooler months of the year, approximately from November to February and zone 2 the warm months from March to October.

Moreover, one of the points of concern since moving to the SNFCC building was the light readings (lux and UV) that were collected from the 3rd level of the book castle façade. Although UV was excluded due to the filtering of the exterior glass panels, the light intensity exceeded greatly the desired limits, demanding immediate actions. These high values along with indications from blue wool standards cards, raised the importance of the situation and paved the way for a fruitful collaboration with all stakeholders. After testing different solutions and materials, it was decided to place shades to cover the Book Castel's open bookstacks. The results were satisfactory since the light intensity varied from 0–600 lux throughout the day. Our documented argument to protect the collections stored in the facade of the Book Castle resulted in covering the facade with blinds that can easily be controlled and handled and reduce the lighting (lux) levels.

The BMS management and preventative maintenance is undertaken by an international facility management company. The management of BMS in order to meet preservation and human needs is a collaborative result of parties and employees with diverse expertise. Acknowledging the important of preservation, a facility management team was created with liaisons from the NLG, the SNFCC Single Member S.A.’s and the facility managers, to hold regular meetings. The impact of these meetings was obvious in the environmental data collected in 2019. To achieve the optimal outcome, many alterations and improvements were applied to the infrastructure. The target now is to exclude the three extremes, too high, too low, too severe/frequent fluctuations within the 2 zones.

Within the preventive conservation program, two external collaborations were initiated to investigate the air quality in NLG premises. The Mycology Research Group of the Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, three projects were launched to investigate air quality in relation to airborne fungi, one in 2014 at the Vallianeio and in 2019 two more projects were executed at the SNFCC building. The projects included sampling (repeated at regular intervals) performed in indoor environments (air) in selected sites of the buildings, and the outdoor environment for comparison.

Moreover, in 2019 the Field Analytical Chemistry and Technology team of the School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, carried out preliminary air quality measurements, of the installations and indoor space of the SNFCC premises by determination of the Volatile Organic Compounds in the air.

The outcome of the two collaborative projects enhanced awareness of the air quality status of the library facilities and provided indexes for future monitoring. The aim is to further elaborate on these studies and to document any deterioration factors that will lead to the improvement of collections' preservation.

5. Employees: training and team building

One of the core actions of the transition project (Action 5) focused on preparing library employees in order to efficiently respond to the increased and multilayered operational requirements at the new premises. As previously mentioned, the library was clearly understaffed to undertake such a big project and the newly recruited staff was not yet familiar with the library's procedures. Therefore, it was important to work on team building and to create an environment that encourages acceptance and support. To facilitate organizational change, there were two types of workshops regularly running,

1. The “transition workshops” that addressed interpersonal issues, discuss ongoing projects, propose solutions and improve alignment around goals. And

2. The “mutual learning sessions” were organized featuring presentations by the library's personnel but also different contractors and partners to inform all staff about projects' implementation, outcomes and overall progress and to familiarize them with the new services under development.

This was a critical project within the institution that the conservation team heartly supported. Conservators raised the significance of their actions and stressed the importance of preventive conservation as a collaborative approach that maintains collections' values and long-term preservation. The outcome was welcomed by all departments and paved the way for the implementation of further conservation actions.

6. Conservation lab

6.1 Procurement and training on new equipment

The transition to the SNFCC was an opportunity to upgrade the facilities and laboratory conditions available to the conservation departmemt, due to the lack of an adequate laboratory since 2010.

The new premises were foreseen to include a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory that was codesigned by the library conservation staff, according to the potential workforce of the team and to the highest standards in terms of conditions, equipment and tools. These facilities were fundamental in order to assist the conservation service staff meet the desired future preservation and conservation goals, and in parallel to apply contemporary approaches to address collection care requirements.

A key aspect of the conservation service is to address large-scale preservation issues with current or future acquisitions with presence of mold or other microorganisms, as well as insect infestations. Aligned with current methodologies, the conservation department was equipped with an Anoxic Chamber (EXPM 6™) for mass treating infested objects, as well as a portable anoxic generator system Veloxy™ and Conserver™ [1] that can be used in different combinations to treat and/or to isolate individual objects in low oxygen environments. The conservation staff was specifically trained in the operations of these systems. Extending their skills on contemporary science and approaches to address biological damages.

Moreover, the conservation department is responsible for the appropriate housing of the collections within the dedicated storage areas. To this end, the library invested in a specialized boxmaking machine which allows the in-house production of archival-quality acid free enclosures for books and archival material. Having received appropriate training, the conservation staff is able to provide custom made protective enclosures to the most sensitive material and as such to plan more readily towards the wider preservation necessities of housing and rehousing larger parts of the collections.

6.2 Conservation documentation system purpose, strategic planning

One of the objectives of the conservation department following the transition was to materialize innovative tools for the documentation and management of activities carried out by its staff, based on the most contemporary requirements and future challenges. The conservation department had the opportunity to upgrade its resources and digital tools. To this end, the conservation documentation system BiblioConserv^® was acquired and customized with the aim of helping to reorganize the workflows of the department and to standardize a documentation methodology.

This system has provided a unified platform where all conservation documentation, workflow processes and management of the conservation team resources are performed, while it is linked to the electronic catalog and other systems of the library. Moreover, the analytical documentation of objects from the NLG collections provides the research community with valuable bookbinding and conservation data and promotes the research capabilities of the conservation department. During the past three years of its operation a plethora of data has been accumulated from conservation activities and object documentation records that is of great value for statistical analysis and research purposes. Such data analysis will help the future planning of the conservation studio and the library as a whole to optimize the workforce of the conservation team in the right direction into using the most effective conservation and preservation strategies for the NLG.

This software tool is a continuous project, with plenty of room to improve and evolve. The need to expand and incorporate Greek terminologies from the field of conservation and to link to other developing thesauri of terms in English and other languages is eminent. Other links to international databases of paper watermarks and bookbinding decorations will also enhance the quality of the documentation records, while there is much to be gained by linking it to the environmental datalogging system of the library.

7. Public awareness and endorsement before and during the transfer

The publicity of the transfer project was immense. With more than a hundred articles and broadcasts the transfer was widely published and shown in all kinds of media. That was extraordinary for the Library and its employees and clearly marked its importance for the Greek society. Due to the transition a media and communication department was developed to manage all related tasks. It was a unique chance to develop targeted audiences, to show the richness and significance of NLG collections and the impact and connection that they could have to the society. The effort and time invested in media was noteworthy, also from the conservation and preservation related issues, in order to have the best possible outcome that is to embrace the relocation, justify its funding and promote the Library.

8. New building new era: now what?

Since its completion in 2017, SNFCC has become one of Athens' hot spots, offering a new cultural hub with hundreds of events and activities running yearly. One must visit the center in the summer to understand the appeal it has for the citizens and visitors of Athens. This is a huge challenge for the NLG, as the new reality includes openness, advanced interactions with its users and the wider public, an increase in collections' demands, conservation and digitization actions.

The challenge after the transfer was to increase our activities, such as exhibitions, educational programs, conferences, lectures etc. The conservation service currently supports a large number of exhibitions, organizes open days for the laboratory and tours. Also, new facilities provided new possibilities, regarding the way and means that conservators can now address the actual preservation and conservation challenges.

9. Conclusions

The experience of the transition project enabled the National Library to improve its status and services in the new premises, the SNFCC. Its current state and all potentials involved would not have been possible otherwise. The program itself proved to be an excellent “learning by-doing” tool, offering an opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The new facilities paved the way for the collection's care, storage and risk management mitigation. The new building set new standards. However, this doesn't mean that it did not have its challenges, as any building does. The conservation team is in constant collaboration with the building's manager to maximize its capacities, to control its climate and work on storage improvements.

On the human side, the “transition” and the “transfer project” allowed employees to set the foundations for a new collaboration mindset and created the necessary human bonds by working towards a common cause, understanding the responsibilities of the new roles of the library operation model. The networking and bonding of the 3-year period project, proved to be quite helpful to the post-transition, everyday reality.

By experimenting in some areas, the conservation team managed to develop first-hand practices that were never executed before in the library. Later, this helped the team in rearranging the collections within the library buildings while improving the overall storage capacity.

Finally, the transfer project and the new premises set the foundations for a strong preventive conservation program at library level. Thanks to the conservators' persistence and support on following the preventive conservation procedures with the collaboration of the stakeholders, different library departments and external associates, the library achieved the necessary cohesion and perseverance for the Program to be established and followed through consistently, a legacy for future practitioners.

The aftermath of the transfer project, benefited the conservation team (and its institutional function) at NLG:

1. To be a high performing team since members were satisfied by the outcome, felt the moral reward and the motivation to contribute more to the conservation's mission within the library.

2. Working at a state-of-the-art conservation lab in terms of infrastructure, facilities and tools, a cornerstone for expanding its role and activities.

3. Building new practices on the robust, experiential body of knowledge due to the timely and within budget execution of the complex activities of the project, within the wider transition. Learning was steep since in a short time all team members gained compressed knowledge.

4. Able to recruit experienced and highly specialized conservators.

5. Continue to raise awareness and promote conservation within the library and society.

As always, some challenges remain; the increase of the public's interest in the new services, the organization of exhibitions in parallel with the more routine tasks and the delay in establishing and enacting on the new internal, organizational model which will provide legal certainty and clarity on accountabilities, slow down growth related, fundamental activities such as the set-up of smooth workflows and swift enactment on policies and procedures to support everyday work. The adoption of a new strategic approach and mindset can direct all initiatives taken now, by individual members fall under, a coherent set of actions in achieving well-defined and agreed goals. All efforts need to intensify in the next few years, towards streamlining the work of the team, in a sustainable and systematic way; the outcome will further improve the visibility and appreciation of the role of conservation within the library, at national and international level.

The transition's momentum and legacy has been well manifested especially in the consciousnesses of almost all of those involved; the audience expects more; what we need to do now, is to rise to the occasion and co-create the library of the future, a resilient organization with an inherent growth capacity, in a fast changing and challenging world.

Notes

1. The Veloxy® and the Conserver® are two systems developed by the Italian company RGI BioSteryl Tech Ltd (www.rgi-genova.com).