Caring for you Family Collections: preservation workshops at the National Library of Ireland

As part of the National Library of Ireland’s contribution to Age and Opportunity’s Bealtaine Festival, the Learning and Outreach and Conservation Departments jointly delivered a public workshop series entitled Caring for Your Family Collections between 2010 and 2013. This paper outlines the origin and development of the programme and assesses its wider impact on public engagement with preservation and conservation practice.

The workshops were designed to be accessible, participatory, and relevant to non-professional audiences and were delivered both in-person. A welcoming and informal learning environment encouraged active participation, discussion, and the exchange of ideas, enabling participants to develop practical skills for caring for paper-based family and personal collections. This approach enhanced the accessibility and relevance of conservation knowledge, fostering greater awareness and understanding among new and diverse audiences.

By demystifying conservation and demonstrating its practical application to privately held collections, the programme successfully brought traditionally behind-the-scenes expertise into the public domain. The workshops directly benefited heritage materials in private hands while also highlighting the National Library of Ireland’s role in the long-term preservation of collections, as well as their acquisition. The initiative demonstrated that the preservation of cultural heritage is a shared responsibility and a matter of public interest.