Microclimate for preservation in a library: assessment of temperature and relative humidity pre and post confinement

DIULIO, MARÍA DE LA PAZ; GÓMEZ, ANALIA

Granada

Congreso; 9° REHABEND 2022 CONSTRUCTION PATHOLOGY, REHABILITATION TECHNOLOGY AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT; 2022

UNIVERSITY OF CANTABRIA

Temperature and relative humidity are two properties of the air that affect preservation: its lack or excess can accelerate the deterioration of organic materials like, for example, books in a library. Also, the internal loads derived from the occupation of the buildings constitute sources of heat and water vapour that modify these variables. During 2020, the lockdown established for limit the COVID 19 pandemic kept users and staff away from the University, while changes in the air mixture around the collections of the Library of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism have been observed. This paper shows the analysis of hygrothermal monitoring data carried out before and during confinement to quantify the effect of internal loads in a university library, and thus evaluate its impact on preservation. The most significant difference observed is the limitation of daily fluctuations, which influence the mechanical deterioration of organic materials, concluding that in this aspect, the absence of personnel due to confinement represents an advantage for the conservation of collections.