University of Delaware Winterthur Faculty

Melissa Tedone joined Winterthur as the Book and Library Conservator in 2015. She earned her doctorate in Slavic Languages and Literature at Yale University, where her passion for archival research evolved into a passion for preserving the cultural record. After several years working as a technician for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Lewis Walpole Library, and the Connecticut-based sculpture conservation firm ConservArt LLC, she attended the Preservation and Conservation Studies program at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin. She completed her third-year internship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated with an MSIS and Certificate of Advanced Study in Conservation of Library and Archival Materials in 2009.

Melissa served as the Library and Archives Conservator at Iowa State University from 2009-2015, where she managed a hybrid lab caring for 2.5 million circulating volumes as well as Special Collections and Archives materials. In keeping with the university’s land-grant mission, Melissa taught workshops, gave lectures, performed consultations for other Iowa institutions and the public, and supervised the annual Lennox Foundation Internship for Preservation Education, Training, and Outreach.  She also created and administrated the ISU Library Preservation Department's blog and social media presence, and she continues to use social media as a tool for preservation outreach.  Her Twitter handle is @melissa_tedone. 

At Winterthur, Melissa is responsible for books in the Museum collection and all of the Library’s collections, including printed books and periodicals, archival materials, photographic materials, and electronic media.  As UD Affiliated Faculty, she teaches the first year Library Materials Block, and supervises majors in their second and third years. Her current research interests include Russian papermaking and bookbinding history, the industrialization of American book production in the nineteenth century, and the relationship between digitization and the conservation of physical textual artifacts in philosophy and practice. Melissa is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). She has been a member of AIC's Sustainability Committee since 2011, and now serves as Chair (2015-2017). Melissa also belongs to the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers and the Philadelphia Area Conservation Association.

During her time in the Midwest, Melissa completed training as an Iowa Master Gardener, and she looks forward to continuing to pursue her horticultural interests in the Mid-Atlantic region. She can often be found on her lunch break wandering Winterthur’s spectacular gardens, camera in hand.