Preservation planning cannot occur in a vacuum. No matter what the source of funding or the consortial context, the impact on the library of a preservation program must be carefully assessed, and the many changes to which the institution is subject taken into account. Thus it is important to consider the reasons for establishing a preservation program and to understand the larger impetus behind it.

The widespread alarm caused by brittle books in library and archive circles throughout the world has helped to stimulate the creation of preservation programs. Though some condition surveys have fueled the movement toward preservation, it is often difficult to conduct these time-consuming studies without a preservation professional already in place. Thus objective studies of most collections have tended to occur after preservation programs are established, although there is little doubt that anecdotal figures about collection loss though brittle paper has helped to draw attention to one of the preservation problems that in turn led to their establishment.

Another factor influential in the establishment of preservation programs may be the sense that unique cultural treasures are in peril and that such a program will begin to rectify the accumulated damage of centuries. More frequently for academic research libraries, it seems, peer pressure within a group of libraries, combined with the availability of grant funds, has resulted in preservation programs. Another factor in decisions to establish a preservation program is the perception by library administrators that standard existing library operations need to be managed in a more efficient and cost-effective way.

The basic, easily understood needs for a preservation program are as follows:
• Maintaining collections by implementing environmental controls, thereby reducing damage and deterioration
• Replacing materials too damaged for normal use
• Safeguarding new book and periodical purchases by designing appropriate contractual binding standards and specifications and developing efficient management systems to implement them, and creating cost-effective in-house binding systems for new materials suited to this approach
• Responding quickly and effectively to material damage from reader use by establishing repair systems
• Preserving and restoring some materials in original format

In 1980 the American Association of Research Libraries' Office of Management Services initiated a Preservation Planning Program (PPP) that is a valuable planning tool for libraries to use in assessing their preservation needs. The PPP approach, which stresses broad staff participation and uses cost-benefit analysis, is the most logical and systematic way to demonstrate the manageability of the problems revealed through objective studies of collections and standard operations, although the wholesale task force approach may need to be modified to suit the circumstances of individual libraries.