What is the best way to store books?

 

How to store books correctly

No matter how reverent we are about books, they still age over time. In order to prevent the loss of the appearance of any literature, collection of essays and carefully stored old publications, it is important to organize the proper storage of books, even on the bookshelf.

What conditions are disastrous for books?

The most important factors that negatively affect books are:

• Sunlight;
• dryness;
• high humidity;
• dust;
• tightness.

When there is excessive humidity in the apartment, books can change their shape and become moldy. To preserve books, it is important to ensure an optimal microclimate in the room. A temperature regime of 18-22 degrees and a humidity level of up to 65 percent are considered ideal. To maintain optimal climatic conditions, you can install a weather station in the room with books, which will allow you to control and regulate the temperature and humidity conditions. If the room is cold and humid (this happens when the central heating radiators are not yet turned on), then in the bookcase you can lay out bags with substances that absorb moisture. Such a measure will prevent overwatering of literature and preserve it for a long time.

But not only high humidity is so "disliked" by books - they can also deteriorate from dryness. Therefore, you cannot put shelves with books near heating radiators. If the room is too dry, the air must be humidified.

With direct exposure to sunlight, books begin to lose their appearance, fade, and age quickly. To prevent this, it is better to install bookcases in the part of the apartment where the sun's rays do not reach, and close the shelves with glass doors.

Many harmful microorganisms (bacteria, mold spores) live in the dust. Together with dust, they negatively affect books, making them dilapidated, brittle, gray, unsightly. Closing the shelves with glass doors and periodically wiping all elements of the cabinet with a dry or slightly damp cloth will help protect books from dust and bacteria.

Books definitely need air. It is important to make sure that literature is not kept in crowded space - books should be placed on shelves so that there is a space of at least a couple of millimeters between them. This arrangement option will allow you not to tear the pages or the crust when the book is taken out or put in its place. Stacks of magazines or albums should not be placed on top of the literature, as this will prevent the passage of air.

Where can I store books?

The best option is to create a full-fledged library, allocating a separate room for it. In this case, the books will be put on the shelves, and it will be very easy to find the necessary literature. But for many book lovers, this can only be a dream in the absence of large spaces in the apartment. In this case, you can come up with various options for storing books that will allow you to keep them in proper form.

If the apartment has considerable dimensions, but still it is not possible to allocate a separate room for the library, you can occupy the wall in the living room, placing bookshelves or cabinets along it. In small-sized apartments, you can place literature in different places, dividing them by topic. For example, on the shelves of a computer desk there may be books on development, psychology, profession. Children's books and textbooks can be located in cabinets near the child's bed.

Books will even find a place on the shelf in the bedroom. This can be fiction, publications about the cultivation of cultivated and ornamental plants. Cookbooks may well find their place in the kitchen, but only away from the stove and sink.

How to store books correctly

Proper care of books

When storing books, it is important to adhere to certain rules:

1. Arrange books on the shelf so that they are conveniently and easily accessible. They should not stand too tightly to each other.
2. Normal air circulation must be provided on the shelves. If the air stagnates, this will provoke the creation of a favorable environment for the reproduction of bacteria.
3. Books and magazines with large dimensions and small thickness should be placed horizontally. You do not need to stack more than ten copies.
4. Protect books from dust by regularly dry cleaning or wiping the shelves with a slightly damp cloth.
5. Provide protection from the sun, humidity and dust.
6. Arrange periodic inspections of books, flip through pages. If stains appear on them, then this indicates that the storage conditions are violated and something should be done urgently.
7. You need to take the book for reading only with clean hands, otherwise dirty stains may form on the pages and crust, which will be almost impossible to remove.
8. If you need to store a lot of books in a warehouse or pantry, it is important to make sure that they are clean, dust-free, and dry. You can wrap the literature in a clean cloth or stretch film for better preservation, and then put it in boxes.

Careless handling also quickly ages the book. If you take a book with dirty hands, bend corners, make bookmarks from bulky objects - all these actions can quickly spoil the book in the same way as mold or humidity.