Printed books are slowly losing popularity in today’s fast-paced digital world of e-books. People now prefer a softcopy that they can have on their device over a hard-cover book to carry around. However, nothing compares to the reliability of a printed book, making protecting book printing and preservation more critical than ever before. In this article, we will dive into everything you need about book preservation.
What Books Need to Be Protected From
While printed books are a timeless treasure regarding their content, their ink and paper are prone to natural decay. Books can lose their original form and rot over time without proper care and handling. One of the biggest adversaries of books is environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, humidity, exposure to sunlight, and even pest infestations in rainy seasons. So these factors, and many others, need to be catered for when handling or attempting to preserve a book.
Storing and Handling Printed Books
The most common cause of book damage is improper handling and unsuitable weather conditions. Libraries and archives should have temperature and humidity control to keep the binding sturdy and the paper crisp the way it originally was. And, of course, all books should be kept away from water or moisture.
Environmental conditions aside, stacking books too high, getting them out too fast, or dropping one on the floor can also do more damage than you would expect. Leaning books can also do a lot of damage because it may affect the joints of the book at the spine or cover. So, keeping them straight is always a better option than leaning, despite the aesthetic appeal.
If you’re laying books on the side, never put the fore-edge down. Otherwise, all the weight would transfer to the pages, causing them to turn: it’s best to always have the spine side downwards. Always shelve same-sized books together to keep symmetry and support on both sides. And never make dog ears on books as that makes the paper weak and brittle on the crease area over time.
Conserving and Restoring
Regardless of whether you preserve books correctly, books that have aged will need restoration efforts eventually. But the way to do that is more technical than just tape. Tape can do more damage than good if your book is falling apart. The American Institute for Conservation has a more detailed guide on preserving books depending on the type of damage. Here are some basic guidelines for restoring a printed book when damaged:
For dog ears or any creases in the paper, remove those creases by straightening the form out and applying pressure on top of the entire book for some time by using something heavy. While the crease might not go entirely, its effects will decrease if it’s been there long.
If the paper has become acidified, like in most ancient books, use deacidification methods to restore it.
Rebind the book if its pages have started to come out.
Endnote
In today’s digital world, books might lose their printed form to e-books faster than we think. Investing in book preservation is essential before they’re gone for good. By preserving books, with proper storage and handling alongside conservation and restoration, we can keep the legacy of the written word alive just a little longer and make sure the content we find in libraries is still available to generations to come.