The Parks Library, with the help of the Lennox Foundation, could increase the quality of the preservation of its collection by creating a competitive paid graduate internship program.

The Lennox Endowment for Preservation Education, Training and Outreach gave $255,000 to the university, which is divided into payments of $85,000 to be paid over the next three years. With the previous support from the foundation, total donations exceed $600,000.

The Lennox Foundation is a non-profit organization located in Dallas, Texas.

Olivia Madison, dean of library services, said the major purpose of this endowment is to enable the library to start a graduate-level summer internship program to provide students with first-rate training in preservation.

“It will support the training of future professionals in the field of library preservation through eight-week paid summer internships in the library’s preservation laboratory,” Madison said.

At present, there are few graduate-level preservation programs in the nation and no paid internship programs.

Madison said the program will attract future professionals to Iowa State — these students will contribute to expanding preservation activities and increasing the expertise of preservation staff.

“The graduate intern will bring current knowledge of treatment techniques and research in preservation to the library, which will help keep the preservation staff well-informed and up-to-date,” said Hilary Seo, head of the preservation department.

She said the library can only treat the highest priority materials among its 2.4 million volume collection because of the limited knowledge and resources of its staff.

“The intern will allow the preservation department to carry out projects that have been overlooked in the past,” Seo said. “There is a growing need for these professionals.”

The endowment will also help provide education and outreach programs, which allow preservation staff and interns to participate in conservation, career conferences and workshops throughout the state of Iowa.

“Throughout the country there is a growing interest by families in preserving their treasures and heirlooms,” Madison said.

The endowment will help cover their travel and other expenses, enabling them to engage more actively in community-based preservation efforts.

“We hope to raise awareness of the importance of preservation and the need to preserve our cultural heritage,” Seo said.

Madison said because of the Lennox Foundation’s consistent support, the library has a world-class treatment facility — from high-end preservation equipment to the latest hardware and software tools.

The Foundation has also supported the digital preservation program that helps make the library’s currently hard-to-access collections more accessible to anyone who needs it.

The digital format can provide “the ability to handle books in more stable conditions” said Chris Kading, a library assistant for the preservation department.

The library maintains more than 3.4 million resources in the form of microfilm units, which can be accessed by almost any computer.

“All of these efforts are done to preserve and protect the survival of library materials and their intellectual content for future generations,” Madison said.

A Lennox Foundation representative could not be reached for comment.