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How to preserve those dusty photos and VHS tapes in your basement, and why it matters

 Stateside's conversation with Shannon Zachary, the head of Preservation and Conservation at the University of Michigan Library.

Your grandparents' wedding picture. The letters your dad wrote home while he served in World War II. Your great-grandfather's citizenship papers.

These are precious links to our history. History is not so much about the "big names." It's more about what happens to everyday men, women and children.

But how many of us know how to preserve these treasures, whether digital or on ancient paper?

Shannon Zachary, the head ofPreservation and Conservation at the University of Michigan Library spoke to Stateside about the best ways to preserve memories, and what to keep in mind when making new ones.

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Copyright 2021 Michigan Radio. To see more, visit Michigan Radio.

Repairing a 16th century compendium of ecclesiastical music at the University of Michigan Library conservation lab.
Courtesy of Shannon Zachary /
Repairing a 16th century compendium of ecclesiastical music at the University of Michigan Library conservation lab.
The repair of a 1915 newspaper clipping in a scrapbook documenting the construction of the Dixie Highway at the University of Michigan Library conservation lab.
Courtesy of Shannon Zachary /
The repair of a 1915 newspaper clipping in a scrapbook documenting the construction of the Dixie Highway at the University of Michigan Library conservation lab.

Read more about the Stateside.