Mercer County - Lawrence Twp - “Rediscovering the New York University Papyrus Collection: Recent Preservation and Digitization Efforts”

Thursday, February 27 – Mercer County

           Princeton Preservation Group to Meet on February 27 about Papyrus

    Ask anyone on the street in Princeton what the Princeton Preservation Group is and you are likely to get a raised eyebrow and a guess that they are people who want to preserve the town. Actually, the Princeton Preservation Group (PPG) has been meeting several times per year since 1983 to hear lectures on a wide range of topics relating

to the preservation of cultural artifacts, including books, manuscripts, artwork, furniture, photographs, tombstones, Lucy the Elephant, quilts, costumes, videotapes, and buildings, just to name a few. 

     The “Princeton” in PPG’s name derives from its founder, the late Susan Swartzburg, Preservation Librarian at Alexander Library at Rutgers. Swartzburg, a Princeton resident, taught a class in the Rutgers graduate library school on the preservation of library materials. At the end of the course, students would present their term projects in her home, where invited guests included local professional librarians and archivists. After a few years of these informal meetings, she created the PPG and it began meeting regularly with guest speakers, initially at Rider College (now University). For the last twenty years, meetings have been held in various locations in central New Jersey, including the Princeton Theological Seminary. Group members include conservators, librarians, archivists, curators, historic preservation specialists, and interested others. Meetings are free and open to the public. Members are notified of upcoming meetings and preservation-related news. For membership information and a list of all the past programs, see http://princetonpreservation.org 

    The next PPG meeting will be “Rediscovering the New York University Papyrus Collection: Recent Preservation and Digitization Efforts,” presented by Melody S. Chen, Paper Conservator, Princeton University Libraries, and will be held at the Mercer County Library HQ on the corner of Business Rt. 1 and Darrah Lane at 4 p.m. on February 29. Ms. Chen will be introduced by PPG President Gary Saretzky. To RSVP to help plan for complimentary refreshments, use the Contact button at http://princetonpreservation.org