Section A·Page 8 The University Daily Kansan Wednesday, July 19, 2000 Bound to his work: University librarian rescues books By Karen Lucas writer@kansan.com Kannan staff writer Brian Baird doesn't have to look far to find an example of library roadkill Tire tracks left their imprint on many pages of a book that Baird keeps on a shelf near his desk. "It must have been on the road for a while," said Baird, preservation librarian at the University of Kansas. "It got run over at least a dozen times. I don't know how it ever got back to us, but someone must have picked it up and decided to bring it back to the library." A dog-chewed copy of Hidden Victims: The Sexual Abuse of Children and a book titled Bermuda Triangle, which is missing its pages, occupy the same shelf. "People aren't as gentle with books as they could be." Baird said. These books are just a few of the many damaged texts that have been sent to Baird and his staff in the preservation department in Watson Library. The department received 30,000 to 40,000 books for repair a year, said Baird, who became KU's first preservation librarian in 1994. "What attracted me to the job was the opportunity to build a program from scratch," he said. "That's what's been most enjoyable—making it grow. I like to be the person coming up with the ideas and using the resources available to me to make the program work." Baird has worked hard in developing the library preservation program at KU as well as other related projects, and his achievements have not gone unnoticed. This month he received the Esther J. Pierce Award at the annual meeting of the American Library Association. The $1,500 award is for a librarian who has excelled in technical services or collections during the first 10 years of his or her career and demonstrates potential for future growth. "I think he's a real outstanding librarian who has made professional contributions both at KU and on the national level," said Slavic librarian Brad Schaffner, who nominated Baird for the award and who also has co-authored some articles on preservation with him. Keith Russell, dean of libraries, shared Schaffner's enthusiasm. "I was just delighted to have him on my staff when I arrived," said Russell, who has been dean since last year. "He's recognized nationally as an excellent preservation officer. As other institutions recruit for preservation officers, they frequently contact Brian as a potential candidate." Among Baird's many achievements is a program called "Brittle," which allows libraries "His conservation skills are almost god-like." Joe Orosco reserve supervisor at Watson Library around the world to get photocopies of brittle page books at low prices. A listserv informs libraries of the books that can be copied. Baird also has developed a Web page on preservation topics, which serves users both in and outside of the KU library system. "I designed the Web page to act as a kind of FAQ kind of thing," he said. "If I get a question about something more than once, I usually put it on the Web page." In addition to providing information about Brittle and the organization and services of the preservation department, the Web page has a section on dealing with fires, bombings, tornadoes and other disasters. Baird and a library committee put together the Disaster Preparedness and Response Manual. "We hope we won't have to use it," he said. Baird also has spearheaded Rainy Day Book Bags and customized bookmarks, which give patrons tips on how to care for books, such as photocopying pages with care and not marking them with paper clips. Both the bags and the bookmarks are available at library circulation desks. Yet getting library users to take better care of books is a never-ending task. Books damaged by food and drink pose a constant challenge for the preservation department staff, and when Anschutz Library extends its hours to 24 hours a day, Baird said the problem would get worse. For a conservation exhibit in Watson Library, Baird said he collected the food containers and trash that patrons left on one floor of the library in a day. "I think the message that really got to people was the volume of the food being consumed in the library." he said. But it is somewhat ironic that the preservation department is located in what used to be a library lounge area with vending machines. The machines were removed sometime before Baird arrived. "When they took them out, the place was crawling with cockroaches," Baird said. "We've worked hard to get rid of them." Shanielle Wenzl, Concordia junior, said she enjoyed working for Baird. Baird and his staff of four full-time employees and about 20 students work in a remodeled area on Watson Library's lower level, which consists of a conservation lab, a bindery unit and a marking unit. The lab workers repair damaged texts, many of which have torn, brittle or missing pages. In the bindery unit, staff members prepare books for commercial binding, and those in the marking unit make call number labels for books. "He's a really relaxed guy," she said. "He makes the job fun and easy." Joe Orosco, reserve supervisor in Watson Library, also was enthusiastic about having worked for Baird when he was a student. "His conservation skills are almost godlike," Orosco said. "I learned a lot from him on how books are put together, how to take care of them. I know we lucky to have him." Like Wenzl and Orosco, Baird worked as a student in a conservation lab at Brigham Young University. Brian Baird fixes a damaged book in the preservation room at Watson Library. Baird and staff repair 30,000 to 40,000 books per year. Photo by Aaron Linderberg/KANSAN "I liked it, and I decided I would stick with the library business," he said. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in library and information science, Baird worked for three years at Princeton University — as a conservator and also an assistant preservation librarian — before accepting the position at the University. Books play an important role for Baird in his leisure time as well. He said he had a personal collection of about 3,000 titles, which includes novels as well as books on history, science and religion. But his wife, Jennifer, doesn't like having a lot of books accumulate in the house. "She sells them at garage sales if I'm not looking," Baird said. His favorite author is Dostoevsky, whom he said was the best psychological novelist. Baird also likes such contemporary writers as Ricky Press and Fanny McGregor. "They write well and are good at communicating passion," he said. Not only does Baird read a lot, but he also enjoys writing. In addition to publishing articles on preservation, Baird has showcased his writing talent in other ways. He wrote a novel, *Tribulation*, which is now under review by a publisher. "It's about a young married couple during World War I." Baird said. "He goes off to war, and while he's gone, she has an affair." Baird has written about the social history of the West too. Idaho Yesterday, a historical journal, will publish his article "Idaho's Trail of Tears." Baird said the article focused on how the U.S. government treated the Lemhi Indians in Idaho from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Why the West? "It's just something I'm interested in," Baird said. He also grew up with seven brothers and sisters on a dairy farm in Mink Creek, Idaho, about 45 miles north of Loden, Utah. "We had a hundred head of cows that needed to be milked two times a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year." Even though he's preserving books at a research university now rather than working on the farm. Baird still likes to don cowboy boots. "I'm not a typical librarian by any means," he said. "I don't fit any of the stereotypes." - Edited by Ben Embry Comfortable and affordable living. You pick your apartment and we'll do the rest. At Sundance apartments, we have a number of features to make your life easier. From the convenience of our furnished apartments and on site property managers, to the comfort of our scenic views and swimming pool, you will find that Sundance caters to all of your needs. 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