The Director for Preservation is responsible for the long-term usability of the Library’s tangible collections. The Preservation Directorate encompasses four Divisions: Conservation, Preservation Research and Testing, Collections Management, and Preservation Services, together totaling about 180 staff.
The operational work of the Directorate is reflected in the scope of responsibility for each of the subordinate divisions. The Conservation Division provides treatment and preventive care for the tangible general and special collections. Its programs include emergency response, environmental monitoring, and preparing materials for digitization and exhibition. The Collections Management Division is responsible for the more than 22 million through inventory management and circulation, as well as oversight of the Library’s offsite high-density storage facilities. The Preservation Services Division provides after-market binding for newly-acquired general collections monographs and serials, serves as the custodian of the master negative microfilm collection, and management of contracted preservation services. The Preservation Research and Testing Division conducts preservation science research on the material composition of collections items as well as other materials in contact with collection items, such as storage, housing, lighting, and exhibition displays.
In addition to the oversight of the overall operation, the Director for Preservation drives organizational change through internal coalitions with peers and providing support and accountability with their staff. Key programs in the next few years include expanding inventory control of the general collections, increasing capacity for digitization and exhibition preparation activities, opening and operationalizing a new high-density storage facility, leading the implementation of a new open-source inventory management software system, and managing the institution’s actions to further comply with its new Collections Security Plan.
The Director is responsible for the efficient administration of the Preservation Directorate and ensuring that activities are in compliance with regulations and directives. The Director's fiscal responsibilities include developing annual staffing plans, ensuring budget execution for annual and continuing resolution funding, and the management of contracting actions for the Directorate.
The Director fulfills human resource management responsibilities as the supervisor of the staff in their management chain, including the Chiefs of each of the four Divisions. Supervisors are expected to effectively communicate goals, vision, and performance expectations for direct staff members, routinely provide informal feedback, and periodically evaluate staff on organizational performance. In addition, supervisors will resolve informal complaints of directorate staff, and take personnel actions as necessary, including disciplinary measures.
The Director works under the supervision of the Associate Librarian for Discovery and Preservation Services (AL-DPS), under the leadership of the Deputy Librarian for Library Collections and Services, who leads the Library Collections and Services Group (LCSG). Other key relationships include the Associate Librarian for Researcher and Collection Services (AL-RCS), the Law Librarian, fellow LCSG Directors, the Collection Development Officer, and LCSG Chiefs. Additionally, the Director serves as the primary LCSG liaison with leadership and staff in the Security and Emergency Preparedness Directorate (SEPD), which shares responsibility for collections security. The Director is also a primary contact for the Integrated Support Services Directorate (ISS), the Library’s liaison to the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), which manages the Library’s physical campus including the offsite collections storage facilities such as those at Ft. Meade.
The Director serves as the primary advisor to the Library on programs for the preservation of tangible library materials, counseling senior management and officials regarding the preservation, conservation, general maintenance, and safeguarding of the Library's collections. In support of this role, the incumbent must establish and maintain effective working relationships and lines of communication across the Library. The Director attends interagency meetings of the federal government, international meetings within the library community, and serves as a representative of the Library on diverse matters, sometimes extending beyond the assigned program responsibility.
