Later in 2015, the Center for Library Preservation & Conservation will become the new home for the Yale University Library’s Preservation Department, which, since its inception, has been located in the basement of Sterling Memorial Library. Located at 344 Winchester Avenue (close to the ‘Science Hill’ neighborhood of the campus), the 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will house the expert staff, students, and visiting fellows who carry out the vital work of the department.
Thanks to a leadership gift from University Library Council member Steve Gates, the Stephen F. Gates ’68 Library Conservation Lab will be at the heart of the new Center. Gates is special counsel at Mayer Brown and has worked with multinational energy and chemical companies for over 30 years; outside of his legal career, he chairs the boards of the Charleston Library Society and Drayton Hall, a National Trust Historic Site. A serious globe collector himself, Gates understands the profound importance of proactively caring for library materials and has previously helped fund the conservation of the library’s stunning pair of terrestrial and celestial globes, created in 1699 by the Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli. The Gates Conservation Lab will not only provide the space and equipment needed to care for the broad spectrum of Yale’s extraordinary collections, but will also allow the library to provide essential internship opportunities for the next generation of conservation and preservation professionals.