Books, newspapers, magazines, albums and other paper documents are kept in almost every household. Some have huge home libraries with many tomes, while others have several dear letters, postcards or newspaper clippings. Have you ever wondered how to properly keep books at home?
Books should stand or lay on the shelves
This is the optimal storage space. The book should fit completely on the shelf and the edges shouldn't come out. The distance from the top of the book to the shelf should be at least 2 cm. It is necessary to avoid putting volumes too close to each other.
It is advisable to store sheet documents in folders or boxes of suitable size. It is reasonable to store valuable paper documents (especially old and damaged) in cases (folders) made of special acid-free cardboard and/or pack them in acid-free paper.
Keep books on closed shelves
For keeping books at home, closed shelves are more preferable to open ones. This will reduce the dustiness of books, which means less frequent cleaning and less accidental damage.
Ventilate closed book cabinets periodically
With the help of ventilation, you can easily get rid of gaseous and finely dispersed products resulting from the natural aging of paper materials.
Remove dust and insects from books
Examine documents from time to time and look for insects and molds. Clean if necessary. Clean books from insects, dust, and other contaminants once or twice a year.
Dry cleaning can be done with a household vacuum cleaner and a brush. Wet cleaning of book bindings and edges should be carried out with a cotton rag (gauze, cotton wool), moistened with clean water and wrung out very well from extra moisture. After wet cleaning, the books should dry well, then they are placed on completely dry shelves. It is not recommended to use chemicals for cleaning. If documents are damaged by mold fungi, you must contact a specialist.
Maintain correct temperature and humidity conditions
The optimum temperature in the room where books are kept should be in the range from +16 to +20 degrees. It is a preferable condition for books. Humidity should be between 50% and 60%. Less humidity will cause the paper to dry out and become brittle, while more humidity will cause mould or mildew to appear. Significant fluctuations in temperature and humidity are also unfavourable for books.
Avoid direct sunlight
Exposure to direct sunlight accelerates the aging of books: paper turns yellow and becomes brittle, bindings fade, and leather dries up and breaks down.
Storing books in damp rooms is unacceptable
Books can be completely destroyed in no time by insects, mice, and moulds if kept in basements, sheds, on balconies and other damp rooms. It is undesirable to keep paper documents in the kitchen, as paper absorbs odours intensively, and small particles formed during cooking settle on the surfaces of books and accelerate their aging.
Pay close attention to storing newspapers
Newspapers are produced on paper with a high wood content. Such paper is not intended for long-term storage; it quickly turns yellow and becomes fragile. Often, due to a destructed basis, an old newspaper is destroyed at the slightest touch. Storage in folders, bound binders, very neat use will help extend the life span of newspapers at home. Professional preservation of the document can only be carried out by a specialist.
Create digital copies of documents
Over time, paper documents age consistently, the information they contain can be irretrievably lost. Heavily weakened paper, faded ink, or an illegible text are all signs of aging paper documents. An affordable modern solution is to digitize them. In this case, the main thing is not to damage the original itself. Using professional equipment for digitizing documents reduces the risk of damage. The National Library of Belarus provides digitization of all types of paper documents using professional scanning equipment.
The material was prepared by the Department of Restoration and Conservation of Library Documents of the Center for Digitization and Preservation of Library Documents.
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