Caring about your books and paper

Posted by Griselda on May 30th, 2019

Essay writing is impossible if you are not an experienced bookwarm, but how to take care and protect books?

There are different rules for each type of paper product, we definitely observe them at theadminsguide. I will try to list several reference books after the article. The basic rule is that books like the same kind of places that people like. Temperatures moderate, humidity standard. If a place is to hot (attics) or to cold (basements) or to dry (sunny window) or to wet (basements), your books won't be happy. 

1. Don't pack books tight on the shelves. This makes getting a book out difficult and you tend to rip the top of the spine or dust jacket. Books also start to stick together.
2. Try to keep the books dust free.
3. Don't store in direct sunlight.
4. Never eat while reading your books. You could get crumbs or other food on your book. Bugs like food, and you don't want to encourage them.
5. Don't fold over the corners of pages. The location of a fold is the first place a page will fail.
6. Don't put photocopies, or newspaper clippings inside of a book unless they have been protected using some form of Mylar bag or encapsulation.
7. Don't use tape or adhesives. I even don't trust the non-acid archival stuff. If there is already some tape holding the dust jacket on, try to remove it without damaging the book. Of course if the tape has already yellowed, it will be easier to remove.
8. Try not to use thin bookends. Those metal edged bookends can cause 'knifing' of pages if you are not completely careful when putting books back on shelves. I suggest either using a block of plastic, or something covered with archival paper.

If keeping your books dust free means buying some of those glass front book cases. That is fairly easy to do. You can also just create a dust free room environment. Don't go crazy over this. The standard book case is usually pretty good unless you share the house with furred creatures, or have a particularly dusty furnace. I justified buying my first barrister book case, separate shelves, and glass fronts, by realizing that adding the price of two of my books, came to more than the book case cost. I have also thought of making plexi-glass fronts for my large wooden book case, or some sort of vinyl hanging (strips of 4 inch wide hanging from the front.) Any of these solutions will provide a dust barrier. BUT, don't make the area completely air tight, because you may encounter some of the problems of moisture. I always suggest moving your bookcases out of direct sunlight. For me this means putting the cases on the south wall so the sun that does get in doesn't shine on the books. Or you could put the books against any wall, so that the just aren't in the sunniest place in the house. If you must put books in direct sunlight, move them. A book left for a year in a book store window gets bleached out. Protect what you have with curtains or shades.