CSU Libraries is no longer offering the Wei T’o Book Dryer service. The dryer is no longer working and cannot be repaired. This service had been available for almost 20 years! We thank CSUL for making the service available to area institutions during that time.

Caution about LED Lighting for Light Sensitive Materials
This is an excerpt from a recent AIC conservation list serve posting.
. . . I believe the existing reported data demonstrates that LEDs are a potentially damaging light source for light-sensitive museum materials and are deficient where accurate color discrimination within the human visible spectrum is required. The deficiencies of LED light sources, both for color rendering and for their narrow emission spectra, is not new information. The CIE data first explaining these deficiencies in detail was published in 2004. I believe the manufacturers are acutely aware of these deficiencies. Jim Druzik of the Getty Conservation Institute recently returned from an NIST meeting where the efforts of the manufacturers to overcome them was frequently discussed. Unless conservators ask very pointed and direct questions, my sense is that manufacturers have not initiated discussions that reveal the risks of LED light sources to light sensitive materials.

It is important to remember that 50 lux, 65 lux or any light level from an LED source is *not* the same as 50 lux, 65 lux, etc. from an incandescent source. The spectral power distributions (SPD's) are different. Guidelines for lighting light-sensitive museum materials are based upon the spectral power distribution of most halogen-incandescent sources (e.g. MR-16, Par 38 lamps) and their fading behaviors with materials of known sensitivities, the ISO BlueWool Standards. Since light sensitive materials generally fade first as a result of exposure to the visible light spectrum, and since most museums are aware of the need to filter for UV and IR radiation, the fading and color-shifting behaviors of light sensitive materials may be significantly accelerated as a result of absorption of the elevated narrow energy bands within the visible spectrum delivered by LED sources . . .