Describe the project and its goals: The Tacoma Public Library (TPL) is requesting funds for preservation

supplies to store the Librarys collection of Tacoma/Pierce County architectural drawings and plans. This project proposes to preserve the plans by storing them in an acid-free, protected environment, and for the first time catalog the collection for public use. Over the past several years, the Northwest Room at TPL has received donations of architectural plans from various sources. Whether they come to us from a retired local architect, a family member, or a former employee, these plans often arrive after having been neglected and more or less discarded after the conclusion of the project they so exactingly describe. Historically, architectural plans were intended by their creators to be temporary. According to Architectural Records: Managing Design and Construction (Lowell and Nebb, Society of American Archivists, 2006), architects do not, as a rule, consider the future uses of their records by historians, communities, preservationists, and future owners. However, many people today value architectural plans as artifacts that uniquely speak to our collective past, and the number of Pierce County researchers who regularly visit the Northwest Room in search of original building plans help to demonstrate this lasting value. The Northwest Room has a strong collection of materials essential for anyone conducting building/property research in Tacoma/Pierce County, and nearly every day Northwest Room staff help a diverse community of patrons discover the history of our built environment. Some of the resources we offer include our popular and unparalleled Tacoma/Pierce County Buildings Index, a comprehensive collection of Tacoma/Pierce County city directories, original maps and atlases, and a multitude of in-house created indexes and subject files. Those who visit us to use these resources are often also seeking original plans to the buildings they are studying. These researchers include students and professors from area schools and universities working on urban planning and community history projects. They include neighborhood associations and homeowners working on nominations for the historic register, developers retrofitting historic buildings, and those hoping to bring back an element of structural authenticity to their historic homes. Architectural plans can give us clues to the meaning behind the buildings that define and shape a familiar landscape, a city skyline, a community, or a home. As the first complete graphic representation of a structure, blueprints and architectural drawings are true primary sources that offer unique glimpses into the genesis of our urban landscape. And arguably, each one is a single surviving copy. For the most part, the Library has stored these plans in the manner in which they were originally received, which is rolled and secured with rubber bands and placed upright in cardboard boxes of various sizes (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). These boxes have been kept wherever we have found space, in the hope that eventually staff would

have the opportunity to properly store and catalog them. Over time, the rubber bands securing the plans have hardened and the edges of the rolls are crushed and breaking (see Fig. 3 & Fig. 4). In this current storage situation, the plans are increasingly vulnerable to damage from pressure, dirt, and light. A rough count of plans in each of the boxes shows approximately 350 drawings and plans of varying sizes for homes and commercial buildings in Tacoma and elsewhere in Pierce County, spanning from the turn of the 20th century to the 1950s. Notable local architects represented include Heath and Gove, E. A. Hatherton, A. Gordon Lumm, G.W. Bullard, Bebb & Goold, Russell, Lance & Muri, Roland Borhek, and Silas E. Nelson. Structures include Tacomas Old City Hall, Oakland School, Fern Hill Municipal Training Center, the State Armory, First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Stewart Intermediate School, and more, including many private residences. Our proposal for re-housing these architectural plans is based on established best practices cited by the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Roundtable on Architectural Records, and as outlined in detail in their recommended work published by SAA, Architectural Records: Managing Design and Construction (Lowell and Nebb, 2006). Plans 3 ft. x 25 inches and smaller will be stored flat, inside acidfree folders lined with unbuffered acid & lignin- free tissue, and within metal flat file cabinets (see Fig. 5). For plans that are too large to fit in flat file cabinets, the recommended practice is a rolled storage method. Plans are rolled around a 3 diameter acid-free tube, which is then wrapped with unbuffered acid & lignin-free tissue and placed inside a 6 diameter acid-free tube. The 6 tubes are then nested together within boxes stored in a large shelving unit (see Fig. 6). Storage space has always been the Librarys primary obstacle in terms of processing the plans appropriately, but a recent reorganization effort in the Librarys basement storage area has revealed six metal flat file cabinets that can be made available for this project. Each cabinet contains five drawers measuring 3 5 long and 30 deep. We estimate that approximately 10 plans should fit in each drawer. This should give us room for 300 flat plans. Since we estimate we have about 250 plans that will need flat storage, this gives us some flexibility in case less or more than 10 plans (depending on the number of sheets for each set) will actually fit in each drawer. For the rolled plans, we have earmarked a 7 ft. high, 4 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep shelving unit in a large storage closet that has been assigned for Northwest Room use. As the plans are re-housed, each will be cataloged electronically, recording the address, architect, date, name of building (or original owners name), condition, and specific location of the plans. Each plan will be given a unique record number that will be used to easily locate and retrieve it. Managing the work for this project will be a librarian in the Northwest Room who is also an archivist certified through the Academy of Certified Archivists. She will be working closely with a graduate student from the University of Washingtons iSchool who has been confirmed to intern in the Northwest Room during the Fall

2012 quarter (September December). This intern will be spending her time (150 hours) dedicated to this proposed project. In August 2012, the Northwest Room project manager will prepare storage areas and set up a detailed workflow based on the proposed procedures described above. In September the intern will begin opening and measuring the plans, dividing them by size and entering them into a prepared spreadsheet. The project manager will actively assist with this work. If Pierce County grant funds are awarded in November, supplies will be purchased immediately and re-housing work will start as soon as supplies arrive. At the conclusion of the interns time at the library, the project manager will complete any additional work needed over the next several months. We expect that the project will be concluded by May 2013. One of our challenges as a public library with unique archival collections is to strive for a balance between preservation and access. We are committed to making our collections available for public use, while being mindful of our responsibility to ensure the material is protected and preserved for many more patrons in the future. It is an ongoing effort for staff to appropriately balance these two priorities, and this grant would greatly help us to achieve both. How will Pierce County grant funds be used? We estimate the cost of all preservation supplies, including the folders, tubes, caps, and interleaving tissue will be $6,824.40 (please see the Hollinger-Metal Edge order form in supplementary materials for details). We would use the $5,000 Pierce County grant funds towards purchase of these supplies. The remaining $1,824.40 would be paid for from the Librarys supply budget and will contribute to the matching fund requirement. In-kind matching funds will also be made with volunteer and staff hours. UW iSchool intern: 150 hours @ $20.25/hr = $3,037.50 Project Manager: 150 hours (at least) @ $31.86/hr = $4,779.00 Total matching: $9,640.90

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Fig. 5: Example of flat file storage.

Fig. 6: Example of rolled plan storage. (Courtesy Syracuse University Library, Storage of Architectural Materials http://library.syr.edu/about/departments/preservation/resources/sam.php)

Fig. 6: Storage area earmarked for rolling tube storage. Materials currently stored in space will be moved to appropriate shelving.