Alexis Hagadorn, Head of Conservation for Columbia University Libraries, Presenting at the Annual Brodsky Series for the Advancement of Library Conservation
Alexis Hagadorn, Head of Conservation for the Columbia University Libraries, will present at the Syracuse University Libraries’ annual Brodsky Series for the Advancement of Library Conservation. The hybrid lecture, titled “Reuse, repurpose, recycle: a conservator reviews the long history of binding waste” will be held on Thursday, April 4, 2024, from 3:30-5:00 in Bird Library’s Peter Graham Scholarly Commons and on Zoom. Register to attend the lecture. The hands-on workshop, titled “Identifying, describing and understanding waste fragments and bindings,” will be held on Friday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Antje Bultmann Lemke Seminar Room and the Joan Breier Brodsky ’67, G’68 Conservation Lab, Special Collections Research Center, 6th floor of Bird Library. The onsite workshop is limited to 15 people and registration is required by emailing mlwagh@syr.edu. All events are open to the public.
The annual Brodsky Series for the Advancement of Library Conservation is endowed through a generous gift by William J. ’65, G’ 68 and Joan ’67, G’68 Brodsky of Chicago. Beginning in 2004, the endowment has been used to sponsor programs featuring prominent library conservators that promote and advance knowledge of library conservation theory, practice, and application among wide audiences, both on campus and in the region.
About the Presenter:
Alexis Hagadorn is the Head of Conservation for the Columbia University Libraries, where she has worked as a rare books conservator since 1997. She received an A.B. from Barnard College, and an M.S. and Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Columbia School of Library Service, spending a final placement year in the Conservation Laboratory of Trinity College Dublin under the direction of Anthony Cains. She worked as a rare books conservator at Yale University, also serving as the first head of Collection Care in its Library. In her role within the Columbia University Libraries, she leads a team of conservators and technical staff who treat and care for all the physical collections, and she frequently consults on questions of material identification and analysis. She lectures on medieval manuscripts at Columbia and is currently chair of the University Seminar in Material Texts. Outside of Columbia, she serves on the visiting faculty of the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, and the Pratt School of Information, where she lectures on library conservation, parchment making, and the history of bookbinding.
About Special Collections Research Center and Syracuse University Libraries:
Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) collects, preserves and provides access to materials that document the history of Syracuse University and our global society, including rare printed materials, original manuscripts, photographs, artworks, audio and moving image recordings, University records and more. Collection areas include activism and social reform, radicalism in the arts, architecture and industrial design, photography, the history of recorded sound and more. Located on the 6th floor of Bird Library, the SCRC is a vibrant research and learning environment for Syracuse University students, faculty and the broader scholarly community, providing access to world-renowned rare and archival collections and expert guidance in their use to facilitate personal discovery and the creation of new knowledge.