The Collection Care department in The John Rylands Library has the main purpose of looking after the preservation and conservation of the collections within the University of Manchester Libraries.
Our team of conservators cover a variety of tasks, including the maintenance of adequate standards of temperature and relative humidity within the historical building, the preparation of the books for exhibitions within the marvelous spaces of the library, the organization of loans and, of course, the active conservation of books.
Collection Care oversees the preservation of any historical object in The John Rylands Library, including the marble statues of Enriqueta and John Rylands in the historic reading room, which have now grown some lovely moustaches, as inspiration for those taking part in Movember.
Movember is organized by the Movember Foundation, a leading global organisation committed to changing the face of men’s health. To date, 4 million moustaches have been grown worldwide, and now even John and Enriqueta have grown them!
The Collection Care team has contributed to the preparation of the moustaches and even had a risk assessment in place for the day the moustaches were going to be applied to the statues!
Linen thread was sewn through the width of a small piece of plastazote (inert dense foam, with numerous applications to protect historical objects), then lined with double sided tape on one side and attached to the back of the moustache.
Our Collection Care manager, Caroline Checkley-Scott couldn’t help having a trial at fitting the propped moustache.
The Collection Care team is very happy to get involved in such important event, ensuring that adequate materials are used for the moustache-fitting of John and Enriqueta.
Looking good, Caroline!