Congratulations to Barclay Ogden, Director for Library Preservation at the University of California Berkeley, recipient of this year’s Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. The award is given annually by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (a division of the American Library Association) recognizing the contribution of an outstanding professional preservation specialist who has been active in the field of preservation and/or conservation for library and/or archival materials.
Mr. Ogden and California Preservation Program (CPP) co-coordinator Julie Page are passionate, dedicated preservationists of California’s print and multimedia treasures. They have created numerous programs that provide invaluable services to cultural heritage institutions in California and other Western states and territories to assist with the preservation of our Nation’s past.
Barclay Ogden and Julie Page began working diligently in the early 1990’s to establish California preservation services. CPP was officially founded in 1998 and receives funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, to provide preservation information, training, and emergency assistance. Mr. Ogden and Ms. Page, with their extensive experience involving disaster preparedness and response, have developed invaluable resource for cultural institutions. The CPP website, http://calpreservation.org/ , provides California-specific disaster assistance and preservation information; twenty-four hour emergency telephone assistance is available; and CPP preservation experts conduct site visits, surveys of collection needs, and written reports, providing impartial, third party, expertise to support institutional plans and goals.
Post Katrina, CPP worked with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve the effectiveness of response. The California Alliance for Response, provided opportunities for over 400 cultural institution leaders and emergency management professionals to meet and learn from each other.
CPP gained national recognition in 2006; since 2007, the National Endowment for the Humanities has provided funding for the Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS) http://www.westpas.org/overview.html which extends the CPP service model to fourteen states and territories.