Historical Background

In November 1986, after the symposium on the Preservation of Library Materials at the South African Library in Cape Town, and workshop for practising paper conservators held at the J.S. Gericke Library at Stellenbosch, the Paper Conservation Group (PCG) was formed.

At a second workshop held at he Restoration Laboratory of the Parliament in Cape Town in November 1987, the name was changed to South African Paper Conservation Group and the organisation was formally constituted.

The organisation was formed to serve the increasing need for communication between the few professional paper conservators working in the country. Originally the PCG consisted of 13 members, with Mrs Dale Peters as the first National chairperson.

The organisation continued to grow, based in the three main geographical regions, relying on the small base of professional members for conservation training of heritage workers in this country.

In October 1998, a proposal for the amalgamation of the South African National Preservation Committee (JICPA) and SAPCON was presented. With the merging of the two groups, was seen the opportunity to stir up a movement which would stop the trend to downgrade preservation of National collections. The South African Preservation and Preservation Group officially came into being in 2002.

Towards the end of 2005, SAPCON has a membership list of over 60 individual and corporate members.