The British Library Preservation Advisory Centre was established as the National Preservation Office by the British Library Board in 1984,[1] and was renamed to the British Library Preservation Advisory Centre in 2009.[2]
During its existence it raised public awareness of preservation issues in libraries and served as a nexus for developing and promoting improved preservation management of library and archive materials in the UK and Ireland.[2]
The centre closed on 31 March 2014, and all publications and resources were transferred to the British Library Collection Care webpages. [3]
The Centre aimed to create a strategic policy for preserving current library collections, and addressed issues arising as digital collections evolved.[4]
Its work was focused on practical results:
The need for national entities like the Centre had been documented in surveys conducted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Section on Preservation & Conservation and by the Ligue Internationale des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherches. Other than the United Kingdom, at least seven other countries have set up a similar entity, including Canada and New Zealand.[7]
The Centre published an annual digest and report.[8]