Inside aic news faic news Allied Organizations

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May 2012

Vol. 37, No. 3

Inside

AIC News  5

FAIC News  6

Allied Organizations  8

Sustainable Conservation Practice  9

People  12

In Memoriam  12

Courses, Conferences, & Seminars  17

Annual Meeting 2012 

Exhibitors & Sponsors  22

BPG Discussion Groups continues on page 3

BPG Discussion Groups:  

That was Then, This is Now

By Penley Knipe, Nancy Ash, Scott Homolka, Stephanie Lussier, Sarah Reidell, and 

Kristen St. John

With its emphasis on outreach and advocacy with allied professionals, AIC’s 40th Annual 

Meeting in May 2012 seems the right time and place to revisit the origins and evolution 

of the Book and Paper Group (BPG) discussion groups. This is especially true for the 

first group formed, the Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group (LCCDG), 

which started in Albuquerque at AIC’s 1991 Annual Meeting. This topic is also timely 

as the Book and Paper Group considers adding a third discussion group: Art on Paper 

Discussion Group, (see box on page 4) and as other Specialty Groups ponder the 

discussion group model as a way to best serve diverse constituents. As the conservation 

community matures and expands, interactive and collaborative programs like discussion 

groups are an effective way to create inclusive content. 

Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group (LCCDG)

The origins of LCCDG within AIC in the late 1980s and early 1990s are complex. Book 

conservators had other parallel venues to gather and exchange information but were 

eager for opportunities to contextualize the AIC annual meeting presentations and were 

fueled by the dynamic meeting style of other cultural organizations such as the American 

Library Association (ALA).

The Library Collections Conservation Discussion Group first formed as an 

outgrowth of a liaison relationship between AIC and the ALA in 1990. LCCDG grew 

for two years under the informal and vibrant leadership of Robert Espinosa, before 

Maria Grandinette and Randy Silverman became the first co-chairs in Albuquerque 

in 1991. In the intervening 21 years, there have been 14 different co-chairs in 10 pair-

ings. The first two pairings oversaw LCCDG activities for 12 years; Grandinette and 

Silverman from 1991–1999, and Ethel Hellman and Meg Brown from 1999–2003. 

Since the 2004–2005 pairing of Heather Caldwell and Beth Doyle, the chairs have 

instituted a voluntary rotation and two year participation policy that mirrors similar 

practices instituted by ALA and other non-profit volunteer organizations. This policy 

ensures fresh and enthusiastic participation by BPG members, especially by early-and 

mid-career conservators.

LCCDG was AIC’s first non-SG group of individuals interested in similar topics to 

formally convene at an AIC annual meeting. The history of LCCDG has been excel-

lently described by Brown and Hellman in the AIC News (2004, vol. 29, no. 3) and the 

BPG Annual (2001, vol. 20 p. 43–48) with full details on the range of past sessions and 

topics. Early long-form sessions were designed to make the annual meeting presenta-

tions more practical and to take book repair “out of the basement.” Of particular note 

was the session held in Buffalo in 1992; a day-long post-conference program devoted to 

classifying treatments by type and application as well as evaluating and describing specific 

repair techniques. Samples were prepared by conservators and vendors in an attempt to 

Albuquerque Convention Center/ 

Hyatt Regency Albuquerque  

Albuquerque, New Mexico

www.conservation-us.org/meetings

MAY 8 –11, 2012 

Albuquerque 

New Mexico

Connecting to Conservation:  

Outreach and Advocacy

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AIC News (ISSN 1060-3247) is published  

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A

IC NEWS STAFF 

Lisa Goldberg, Editor

Eryl P. Wentworth, Managing Editor

James Martin, Editor, New Materials & Research

Sheila Cummins, Editor, New Publications

Morgan Gilpatrick, Production Editor

Ruth Seyler, Marketing Director

Eric Pourchot, Institutional Advancement Director

Katherine Hubley, Graphic Designer

© Copyright 2012. AIC News cannot be reproduced 

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AIC NEWS

From the Executive Director

2 

AIC NEWS

, May 2012

As this issue of AIC News reaches your homes or work 

places, many of you will be preparing to leave for AIC’s 

40th Annual Meeting, taking place in Albuquerque, 

New Mexico. This year’s theme of outreach, which was 

selected by popular vote, has attracted a record number of 

submissions for presentations. It has inspired us to stretch 

in many ways—to accept many more papers, to try many 

more concurrent sessions, and to encourage new formats. 

We are eager to see how a somewhat restructured Annual 

Meeting works for you and look forward to reading the 

post-meeting evaluations that will help us to determine our approach to future meetings.

There is much to celebrate this year and much to reflect on as AIC celebrates an 

important anniversary. Be sure to join us at the Members Business Meeting where, over 

breakfast, you will learn of the current state of AIC and its Foundation, and help us create 

the vision of where you’d like to see AIC at its 50th anniversary.

I look forward to the opportunity to speak with as many of you as possible, and I 

welcome your ideas for future directions.

—Eryl P. Wentworth, AIC and FAIC Executive Director 

ewentworth [at] conservation-us __ org

Angels Projects in New Mexico

Tuesday, May 8, 8:00 

AM 

– 5:00

 PM

This year, we will be hosting two Angels Projects: one project co-sponsored with 

ASG at San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe, and one at the Sandoval County Historical 

Society in Bernalillo.

SANDOVAL COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

AIC members will perform conservation and preservation services at the Sandoval 

County Historical Society.  These services will include such activities as examination 

and rehousing of the Historical Society’s archived materials, as well as documentation 

and securing of photos used for educational purposes.

SAN MIGUEL CHAPEL

San Miguel Chapel is one of the oldest 

religious buildings in the United States. 

The chapel’s historic significance includes 

archaeological remains that date from  

pre-contact times to the 20th century, as 

well as Spanish Colonial woodwork and 

historic paintings.

The day will be spent learning traditional 

earthen building skills, including making 

adobe bricks, and helping to preserve an 

adobe treasure.

Photo Credits

San Miguel Chapel, 

Taken 6/29/02 by Pretzelpaws 

Wikimedia Commons.

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