UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Employees of Penn State University Libraries’ Conservation Centre will lead hands-on papermaking sessions — from fiber to finish, from petals to paper — from 10 a.m. to noon June 12 and July 15 at the Arboretum at Penn State Childhood’s Gate Children’s Garden.
The free event is suitable for all ages and will teach attendees how to use recycled paper fibers and plant fibers, such as flower petals and garden vegetables, to make new handmade paper. Those in attendance will get to take home their own finished paper and an instructional handout. Both regular and decorative paper will be made during the event sponsored by Penn State Outreach.
“Making paper by hand is an engaging, fun and creative activity, which is also considered a high-level skill employed by book artists and conservation experts alike,” said Bill Minter, senior book conservator at Penn State University Libraries. “Understanding the physical properties and processes of how paper is made is helpful to those of us who are responsible for preserving books and other documents. We hope our papermaking event will help participants appreciate both plants and paper in a new way and introduce the art and science of papermaking to a new generation of budding conservators.”
Minter will join colleagues Sarah Bildner, digital production supervisor; Colin Mellace, preservation specialist; Jacque Quinn, preservation services manager; Bethann Rea, digital collections management librarian; and Amelia Blevins and Kavya Parameswar, both conservation specialists, at the summer sessions.
The University Libraries’ Conservation Centre and Preservation, Conservation and Digitization Department are responsible for the preservation of the University Libraries’ collections in all formats, including paper-based books, works of art on paper, photographs, maps, media and digital files. The state-of-the art, fully equipped Conservation Centre opened in spring 2019 and uses vintage tools as well as modern, high-tech equipment.
Attendees are encouraged to check the Arboretum at Penn State June 12 and July 15 event links prior to visiting in case of inclement weather that should necessitate schedule changes.