Endangered Archives Programme Hubs International collaboration to protect documentary heritage across the world

Abstract

The British Library and the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), with support from Arcadia, formed five partnerships to create 5 EAP Hubs with academic libraries universities in Lebanon, India, Jamaica, Lesotho and Peru to co-produce training sessions, in person and online, on all aspects of the protection of documentary heritage and respond to local needs including conservation, digitisation and digital preservation to protect the collections of libraries and archives at risk (from conflict to climate change) in these regions. These EAP Hubs help foster capacity building, strengthen professional networks and support career development. Since 2023, over 22 in person workshops and 67 webinars have been delivered and attended by over 3,000 librarians and archivists. Topics have included newspaper conservation, sustainable conservation practises, audio preservation and setting up a digitisation studio on a budget.