Brittle Books Program Documentation: Overview

Questions about the program?

Please contact:

Cathy Martyniak at (352) 273-2830

Delonda Strawn at (352) 273-2839

For details about the formation of these policies and procedures, please check out the BB WIki

DRAFT: This policy has not yet been vetted by UF Library Administration.

The University of Florida is strongly committed to providing and preserving access to materials available within the libraries. While a major portion of the resources currently used to support library collections are directed towards electronic resources, significant amounts of library materials are still only available in paper format. Of those, surveys indicate that up to 20% of them contain paper that is embrittled and in danger of deteriorating completely. These brittle books constitute a valuable and important component of the UF Library collections. Providing a mechanism to efficiently and effectively provide continuing access to the intellectual contents of these volumes is essential.

Using a variety of methods to identify/discover these volumes, subject specialists will be asked to review each brittle book to determine if it has enduring value. If it does not, it will be withdrawn from the collection.  If it does, a combination of physical replacement,  easy discovery of already available digital copies and in house digitization will be used to ensure that students and faculty within the UF community will continue to have access to the scholarship within the brittle book. 

Brittle book policies from other schools