Sarah Reidell

Sarah Reidell is the Margy E. Meyerson Head of Conservation in the Penn Libraries, where she leads and manages the Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory that cares for the long-term stability of the Libraries' physical collections and supports the mandate of the Preservation Department. Established in 2016, the Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory program has three primary goals: stabilization and protection of the Penn Libraries collection in all analog formats; preparation for exhibits and loans; and collaborative outreach to support other areas of the library and pedagogy. The state-of-the-art Steven Miller Conservation Laboratory was an early partner of the Penn Green Labs initiative and is committed to greening our laboratory practices to support Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0. 

Sarah is a conservator specializing in caring for and treating bound, paper, and parchment materials. Sarah received an MLIS/CAS in the Conservation and Preservation of Library and Archival Materials from the University of Texas and an AB in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College. She held previous appointments at The New York Public Library and Harvard University Library’s Weissman Preservation Center. 

Sarah is an elected, peer-reviewed Fellow of The American Institute for Conservation (AIC). She is the current AIC Board Director for Communications. From 2020-2023, she served on the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) and NEH "Held in Trust" project as part of the Field Sustainability Task Force, exploring the financial forecast for the cultural heritage sector in the US. In 2018, she established and now co-leads the Ivy Plus Conservation Alliance, which promotes conservation leadership across libraries, galleries, and museums at thirteen leading research universities. In 2023, Sarah founded a user group and mailing list for conservation professionals who utilize and manage CMC machines for mat-cutting, box-making, and other enclosure fabrication. Additionally, the lab is a co-lead for the informal CLAMP (Conservators at the Library and Museum at Penn), an initiative dedicated to fostering cross-campus collaboration and information exchange.