Streamlining facilities for access and preservation of Cultural and Heritage collections at the University of Leeds

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The University of Leeds has one of the largest cohorts of arts and humanities researchers in the UK. This is matched by the significance of our cultural and heritage collections, managed by the University Library Special Collections. Five manuscript and rare book collections have been designated by Arts Council England as of national and international importance. We are archive and museum accredited, and the University Art Collections receive support from Research England to increase research access to the collection beyond Leeds. Special Collections operates a public Research Centre in the Brotherton Library, alongside two Library galleries, The Treasures of the Brotherton and the Stanley and Audrey Burton Art Gallery that are freely open to all. Special Collections is responsible for the International Textile Collection.Collections are located across different stores, with varied challenges. Collections have grown at pace over the last decade, diversifying in format. Stores are full to capacity and were not designed to accommodate many of these items, leading to a differentiation in environmental conditions and security. Moving collections across campus is challenging, limiting their use. In effect, some collections are inaccessible to researchers and at significant risk of degradation in quality. Collection knowledge is at risk of diminishing across the curatorial staff team and inefficiency in collection management limits time available to support research. These factors could decrease research use of some of the most outstanding collections in the country rather than placing them at the centre of many interdisciplinary research projects. The ambitious project supported by AHRC will transform preservation, access and use of collections with a number of concurrent programmes of upgrade works. The project will improve the research study environment. It will allow us to realise our ambition to provide access and increase use of all cultural and heritage collections in one facility. This coherent offer will enable researchers to work with diverse format items, across multiple collections, in a digitally enabled facility fit for the 21st century. By upgrading storage systems in our art gallery seminar space, we will enable creative use of the textile collection. By consolidating and reorganising several store areas we will improve preservation conditions, curatorial efficiency and knowledge. Pests will be minimised and large, challenging formats will have expansion space with storage solutions appropriate to their needs. This urgent and timely upgrade to facilities strategically aligns to the University Research Strategy and the Library Space Strategy. It addresses long term challenges that impede our ability to support research as broadly as the collections warrant. Our improvement plans approved by the National Archives accreditation scheme focus on the urgency of storage upgrades. The AHRC project brings significant added value to a philanthropic and University investment which will extend the Research Centre to offer new teaching and research room facilities, tripling our capacity to enabling new research collaborations with collections.The AHRC project will enable curatorial staff to spend more time supporting research visits and promotion of underused and newly acquired collections. It will enable groups to work with a rebalanced blend of physical and digital engagement in one facility. Creative activities will be developed with regional partners across the creative industries to deepen engagement. There will be a greater output of publications from the collections and a scaling up of research grant applications focused on the collections.