The forming of the collaboration began when the Directors of PLCH and UCL met to discuss challenges they were facing in terms of conservation and preservation. Both acknowledged that neither institution independently possessed the resources to operate a lab to perform the necessary conservation treatments on their collections to ensure the collections would be available for generations to come. Despite having a special collection of over 150,000 rare materials, PLCH did not have a conservation lab and was required to outsource most of its conservation, including basic needs such as encapsulating and creating storage enclosures to store fragile material. UCL did operate a conservation lab, but lacked the resources to update equipment and hire a full-time conservator. PLCH’s collection size of over 8.7 million items has an annual circulation of over 16 million. UCL offers access to an outstanding research library collection of over 3.7 million materials. Both institutions were limited by the amount of preservation and conservation work that could be accomplished separately for each institution’s extensive collections. By partnering to conserve the rare collections and heavily used circulating collections, both institutions are ensuring future access to researchers in the most cost effective and innovative way. In pooling their financial resources, experienced preservation personnel, and existing lab space they are also positioned to provide conservation assistance to other cultural heritage institutions in the region.

The intent to explore a new business model to meet our preservation needs began with an agreement to partner in a LSTA grant submission, and discussion of resources each institution could provide for in a long-term collaboration. Research for the grant included visiting other labs, working with the UCL contract conservator on specifications for lab supplies and equipment, and developing a renovation plan with the UCL Coordinator of Facilities. Discussions began between the two institution’s Human Resources, Business Offices, and Legal Counsel to insure that all personnel, financial, and legal dimensions of the collaboration were addressed prior to the potential awarding of the grant. With the announcement of the grant’s success in October 2011 the physical aspects of the collaboration began – staff training, equipment ordering, and lab renovation. Beginning in October 2011, the two PLCH conservation technicians began working part-time on-site at UC’s Langsam Library, with the UCL conservation technicians, to align standards and practices. In November 2011, PLCH (fiscal agent for the LSTA grant) began ordering the grant funded equipment and supplies. Over the month of December 2011 the renovations were executed and included new office furnishings for all Preservation Lab team members, demolition of a large closet to add space to the open floor plan, the addition of an entire bench area (including sink), and the resurfacing of the existing bench and replacement of the sink in the existing bench area. The renovation of the lab cost over $110,000 and was funded by UCL. The collaborative lab opened on January 3rd, 2012 with a renovated facility, new equipment and supplies, trained staff, and a legal agreement signed by the two participating institutions.

Bringing together UCL and PLCH’s resources and expertise has rejuvenated our departments and provided learning opportunities that we were unable to accomplish alone. Having a fully functional preservation lab at the Public Library has positively impacted the Library’s highly successful digitization lab. By pooling our resources we were able to hire a conservator and cost-effectively address our rare book conservation backlogs. The lab has achieved an equal output of services per institution the past two years by tracking the lab’s workflow using a workload point accounting system. Additionally, both libraries engage in mutual aid during disaster recovery. Challenges faced during collaboration included differing governance (union vs. non-union), our fiscal calendar (fiscal vs. annual), how location impacted outreach, and our legal representation (UC general counsel vs. Hamilton County Prosecutors Office). Many challenges in collaboration were overcome with a carefully crafted Memo of Understanding (MOU). The MOU is not a contract, so it has no expiration date and won’t need to be renegotiated unless one of the collaborators requests a large modification. We also allowed some flexibility in the MOU so if available funding should decrease for one institution there would be a corresponding reduction in services provided. Since the lab is neither only UC nor only PLCH, we have our own branding that was done by an outside designer and approved by the UC branding committee and the PLCH director of communications. We have an informational website and active blog, which has reached over 12,000 hits since it began March 2013!