Mary Leverance, Preservation and Conservation Coordinator

Mary is focused on managing the unit, and preventive conservation and collections care, including environmental monitoring, emergency response, integrated pest management, reviewing materials needing treatment, and preservation planning.

She's often discussing preservation measures with staff from all Libraries units, monitoring environmental building conditions, and dabbling in making enclosures here and there.

She has a Master's in Information Sciences and a B.S. in Geography.

Sally Crutcher, Preservation and Binding Supervisor

Sally is focused on the physical conservation of circulating and Special Collections materials, including assessing damaged items, repairing books and paper, and rehousing items in premade and custom enclosures. She also oversees the Libraries’ binding operations.

You can usually find Sally listening to podcasts while making wheat starch paste, cleaning and mending paper, and repairing the spines of books.

She has a Master's in Library and Information Science, a B.A. in History, and a graduate certificate in Archival Studies.

Amber Cooper, Preservation and Binding Assistant

Amber is focused on the physical conservation of circulating collections, including repairing books and paper and rehousing items in premade and custom enclosures. She also sends periodicals and monographs for commercial binding, and assists in any other tasks needing extra help.

For training purposes, she also has a long-term book repair project, where she's reassembling a book from scratch, including fixing any tears and binding issues the book has, which is usually the highlight of her week. 

She has a B.S. in Anthropology, with a History minor, and is currently enrolled in the MLIS program at the University of Southern Mississippi.