Securing our collections: managing risks in historic libraries

Attendees are invited to hear from a range of invited speakers discuss issues around collection security, from provenance to events in library spaces, and with contributions from the view of the police dealing with cultural heritage crimes to the recommendations of the Arts Council. The day will end with a session introducting the Consortium of European Research Libraries' "toolkit" for collection security followed by a short workshop working through some example scenarios.

An optional tour of the SOAS Library's special collections will close the day.

This is a hybrid event taking place in person at SOAS, and also online via Zoom.

The in-person registration fee is £65 and the online fee is £10. Registration for in-person attendance will close on Monday 28 October. If you need to pay by invoice please contact the HLF Treasurer by email: sprosser [at] ras.ac.uk

Conference programme:

10:00 – Registration, Coffee

10:30 – Conference begins. Housekeeping. Introductions

10:40 - 11.00 – Ed Maggs (Maggs Bros). Stolen books: how they get that way, and what to do about them.

11:00 - 11:20 – Joe Hone (Newcastle University). Special collections and the challenge of forgery.

11:20 - 11:30 – Questions for speakers

11.30 - 11.50 – Coffee

11:50 - 12.10 – Sophie Hayes (Metropolitan Police). Protecting your collections: the police perspective.

12:10 - 12:30 – Anna James (St Paul’s Cathedral). Is all publicity good publicity? Library events outside Library control.

12:30 - 12:40 – Questions for speakers.

12:40 - 13:40 – Lunch

13:40 - 13:55 – AGM

13:55 - 14:15 – Valentina Sabucco (Arts Council England). Balancing accessibility and security: considerations for conducting public tours of collection stores without compromising security.

14:15 - 14:35 – Steven Archer (Trinity College, Cambridge). Protecting history and protecting ourselves: the impact of attacks on cultural heritage objects.

14:35 - 14:45 - Questions

14:45 - 15:05 – Coffee

15:05 - 15:35 Marian Lefferts (Consortium of European Research Libraries). The CERL Quick Audit Tool and the QAT Discussion cards. Helping the conversation along. [Via Zoom]

15:35 - 16:05 – Workshop using scenarios from the CERL Toolkit and Discussion Cards.

16:05 - 16:15 – Final round up.

16:15 – 16:55 – Optional tour of the SOAS Library.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, London, United Kingdom