PAC Sri Lanka
Hosted by the National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB) of Sri Lanka
Frequently Asked Questions:
Traditional paper and manuscript preservation (Palm Leaf Manuscripts)
Treating Fungal and Mould Infestation
About the Centre:
The IFLA PAC Centre was inaugurated in the National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB), Sri Lanka on 5th August 2015.
The PAC Centre is involved with a number of activities. Each year the PAC Centre organises in collaboration with the Goethe Institute in Sri Lanka training workshops on conservation of library materials for librarians around the world. The PAC Centre is also involved in a several other projects, such as research studies on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Sri Lanka aligned with the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Programme. The PAC Centre also acts as the focal point of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme (MoW) and has taken steps to nominate a number of collections of the Sri Lankan documentary cultural heritage to be included in the MoW Register.
The PAC Centre provides advisory services for libraries on conservation of library material. Many libraries in the country have solved their conservation problems through the advice of IFLA PAC centre of NLDSB.
Expertise
The IFLA PAC Centre started the production of a herbal oil called “Panhida Herbal Oil“ for the conservation of palm leaf manuscripts. This oil is produced through a machine produced by the NLDSB. IFLA PAC Centre has established 131 library conservation centres in main public libraries throughout the island of Sri Lanka. These conservation centres are engaged in preserving the library materials in their libraries as well as in neighbouring libraries. NLDSB provided the necessary equipment for these centres and training for the staff of these centres.
One of the most common conservation problems in the region for book and paper is the pests and mould attacks, which are being addressed by the Centre. The IFLA PAC Centre has been conducting number of library pest control researches in order to develop pooper pest control strategy for libraries in the tropics.
Read more here: http://www.natlib.lk/home/ifla_pac.php