Greetings. Librarian here, worked in a library with a rare books collection, took an introductory course of book conservation and restoration. Observations: - Shelves. Depending on the climate where you live, untreated wood shelves are preferable to varnished ones and both to metallic ones, to diminish water condensation. - How to take books out of the shelf. Agreed, with a caveat. If where you live there are spiders of the brown recluse kind, they love to hide behind books. Safer ways to take books are pushing in the books to right and left so you can grasp the book you want, or, using gloves. - Gloves. Yes, you can read old books without gloves, and if your hands are clean that will not damage them, but, if a book has a mold/fungal infection, it can infect others in your library, and you may get sick from it. Unusual, but you don't want to be the one in a thousand case. If you have a visibly infected book, treat it with extreme caution - for the sake of the book and yourself. ✌
Very useful information
Greetings. Librarian here, worked in a library with a rare books collection, took an introductory course of book conservation and restoration. Observations:
- Shelves. Depending on the climate where you live, untreated wood shelves are preferable to varnished ones and both to metallic ones, to diminish water condensation.
- How to take books out of the shelf. Agreed, with a caveat. If where you live there are spiders of the brown recluse kind, they love to hide behind books. Safer ways to take books are pushing in the books to right and left so you can grasp the book you want, or, using gloves.
- Gloves. Yes, you can read old books without gloves, and if your hands are clean that will not damage them, but, if a book has a mold/fungal infection, it can infect others in your library, and you may get sick from it. Unusual, but you don't want to be the one in a thousand case. If you have a visibly infected book, treat it with extreme caution - for the sake of the book and yourself. ✌
That was the best advice for my precious books I have ever heard, thank you Patrick.
And thank you
those books are beautiful
0:42 what if I put silica gel in front of the books? Won't that draw out all excess moisture? Or perhaps it will dry out the books?