Volunteers Preserve Historic Book Collection at Drum Castle
A team of volunteers at Drum Castle, part of the National Trust for Scotland, meets weekly to care for and catalog the site's library of over 4,000 books. The volunteers, who come from diverse backgrounds, systematically inspect each volume for damage, catalog entries, and signs of pests. They also perform conservation cleaning, using specialized tools like soft brushes and museum-grade vacuums. The work reveals historical details about the Irvine family, who resided at the castle until the 1970s, through annotations and sketches found within the books. This ongoing effort helps preserve a significant collection, with some items dating back 500 years.
Key facts
- Drum Castle houses a library of over 4,000 books
- Volunteers meet weekly to inspect, catalog, and clean the collection
- Some books in the collection are approximately 500 years old
- The Irvine family lived at Drum Castle until the mid-1970s
- Volunteers handle an average of 30 to 40 books per week
Entities
Artists
- Hugh Irvine
Institutions
- National Trust for Scotland
- Drum Castle
Locations
- Scotland