By: Eoin McKenna Walsh

Trinity’s old library has been cleared for a redevelopment project and is set to close to the public fully in 2027. Bianca Dickel Campanher, a librarian scientist specialising in paper and book conservation working on the project, describes the process and her experience working with such important historic artifacts in such a historic building.

If you have seen movies or shows like Michael Collins (1996), Foundation (2021), Byzantium (2012), the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, or even Star Wars Episode Two (2002), you would have seen Trinity and its famous Old Library, home to the Book of Kells.  

In 2022, the Old Library Redevelopment Project began, which saw the slow and systemic moving and cleaning of books and other artefacts stored in the library, so that when the library is eventually emptied, work could be done on the building to “implement urgent physical and environmental upgrades,” such as climate control systems and digital archives so the physical artefacts can be preserved.  

As “the Old Library’s precious collections, spanning millennia, have been in (the library’s) care for over 400 years,” has been located in the old 18th century design, it may be no surprise to learn that “external pollution and dust accumulation are taking their toll on the collections and the fabric of the Old Library building”. Even though there is no confirmed re-opening date yet, on the project’s Info and FAQ page, it asserts “there is a need to modernise environmental control and fire protection measures. Recent fires in similar heritage sites across the globe provide stark warnings.” 

The process of restoring these books and artifacts is delicate, involving a specialised vacuum to clean centuries of dust, measuring, RFID tags being added, and wrapping with a cotton cord to secure its structural integrity, if necessary, before being boxed up. One of the talented members of team involved in this process is Bianca Dickel Campanher, a librarian scientist specialising in paper and book conservation. According to Bianca “Over time, the materials that make up books go through physical and chemical deterioration which make them so fragile. We use the vacuum cleaner to remove dust and other dirt rather than dislodging and spreading it. Great care is needed in cases where the book is so fragile that parts of it could be sucked into the vacuum cleaner.” 

“When you first start working with old and rare books it feels so magical. I used to wonder what people back then were thinking as they consulted those books and whether they ever imagined that hundreds of years later someone would still be holding that very same thing,” said Campanher. 

Photo Story by Eoin McKenna Walsh. All Photos by Eoin McKenna Walsh