Books

Storing and displaying books

Adverse storage and display conditions affect all items in a collection. The effects are not always dramatically obvious. Changes tend to occur gradually over a long period of time; but once the changes have occurred they are often irreversible, or involve complex and costly treatment.

Good storage and display environments prevent physical damage and help slow down chemical deterioration, greatly increasing the life of books. The following sections outline:

• the ideal conditions for the storage and display of books;

• general storage guidelines;

• the best materials to use for the storage and display of books;

• enclosures for books—some easy do-it-yourself storage enclosures;

• the effects that light can have on books on display;

• lighting hints; and

• supporting books when they are on display.

Ideal conditions for storing and displaying books

Books are made up of many different materials. The sensitivity of particular materials and the value of the books—be it monetary, sentimental or other value—will determine your approach to providing a controlled environment for your collection.

Ideally, books should be stored in an environment where:

Temperature is constant and moderate-in the range 18–22⁰C. Because books are often stored in areas where people use them, 18^ºC may be considered too low for comfort. In this case, 20–24⁰C would be acceptable but higher temperatures than this are not recommended.

Relative humidity is in the range 45–55%. This is important for books. If the relative humidity is too high, mould and insect activity are highly likely to increase because the glues are very attractive to them. If the relative humidity is too low, the glues dry out and lose their flexibility. Because paper, leathers, bookcloths and glues react at different rates to changes in relative humidity—and because fluctuations in relative humidity can cause bindings to distort-it should be kept as stable as possible.

Light is kept to the minimum necessary for the activity. Ideally, books should be stored in the dark. Light is really necessary only when they are being selected from the shelves. This is not always practical because books are often stored in the same area in which they are used; and in libraries, selection of books from shelves can continue over many hours. It is necessary to have light for display, but the lighting levels for display don't need to be as high as the lighting levels in a reading room.

Books fall into different categories of light-sensitivity, depending on the materials from which they are made, their value and their condition. Most collections of general-use books would be considered to be non-sensitive to light. Despite this, if you want them to last, you should try to keep their exposure to bright light down to a minimum.

All books should be protected from exposure to daylight. The UV content of the light should be less than 30µW/lm and no more than 75µW/lm.

If the books are particularly sensitive to light—for example, books with watercolours, dyed leathers, some older dyed bookcloths and rare or valuable books with paper covers—the brightness of the light should be 50 lux or less.

If the books are moderately sensitive to light, the brightness of the light should be 250 lux or less.

Steps must also be taken to protect books from dust and pollutants—especially if your collection contains leather-bound books.

General storage guidelines

Careful consideration should be given to the storage site and the storage system. In ideal conditions, a good storage system in an appropriate storage site provides added protection for your collection. If the available facilities or the local climate make it difficult for you to achieve ideal conditions, then the selection of the storage site and the maintenance of a good storage system are even more critical in preventing damage to the collections.

The following notes are guidelines for selecting storage sites, and outline the principles to be followed to protect your collections in storage.

Wherever possible, the storage site should be in a central area of the building, where it is buffered from the extremes of climatic fluctuations which can occur near external walls or in basements and attics. The storage site should not contain any water, drain or steam pipes, particularly at ceiling level. Leaking pipes can cause a lot of damage. Basements should also be avoided because of the risk of flooding.

Don't store books in sheds. The storage site and the shelving used for your books should allow reasonable ventilation. Also remember to inspect and clean book shelves regularly. These two simple measures help reduce the risk of insect and mould infestation and help greatly in controlling any outbreaks.

Give books adequate support and try to reduce the physical stresses which can damage them. Many books are very badly shelved. This eventually distorts the binding and can damage the sewing structure, which causes books to fall apart. Don't allow books to flop to the side on their shelves. Bookends or book shoes should be provided to keep books upright. Book shoes also support the textblock.

How not to store your books. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

Click here to see diagram

Make sure you support your books and keep them upright on the shelves.

Store large volumes flat rather than upright. Most large volumes have heavy textblocks, and not all of them have adequate binding structures to support them. Flat storage prevents the weight of the textblock from collapsing the spine. If several heavy books are to be stored horizontally, they should not be stacked too high. This makes handling awkward and can cause damage. Try to place an empty table or shelf nearby—the books on the top of the stack can be put there if you are trying to remove those at the bottom.

Provide easy access to books—ease of access contributes greatly to the care of books. Difficult access often leads to awkward handling as people try to lift too much weight at one time, risking injury to themselves and damaging the books.