Movable heritage in libraries: an introduction to heritage and what it means for managing library collections

The cultural heritage of library collections and individual items is of importance and interest outside the profession of librarianship. This paper gives an introduction to the concept of ‘movable heritage’ from the heritage professional’s perspective and provides suggestions as to how this concept can be applied to libraries. Identifying what is of cultural heritage significance and how a collection/item is significant is the key to making management decisions which balance the conservation of a library’s heritage items with other pressures in library management.