Book Storage Tips
16If you are a bibliophile, you probably have a pretty significant collection of books. This means you’ve probably also invested in shelves to store them; but at the end of the day, you can only fit so many shelves in your home. When that last little spot on your shelf gets filled in, what do you do now? Parting with the books you have read and loved doesn’t sound like a great solution, but it’s not recommended to store books in a garage, attic, or shed. Moisture, temperature, and UV light can break down your books before you even have a chance to read them again. If you find yourself in this situation, consider investing in self-storage for your books. Read on for book storage tips to keep your collection good as new in storage.
Prepping for Book Storage
Clean Your Books
Before putting your books in storage, dust them and remove any food or drink residue from within the pages. Removing dust and debris will help ensure your books do not get damaged or break down in storage. This also helps prevent pests from seeking out a new home in your pages. When you do clean your books, avoid using any moisture to clean them and be sure to let them air out before packing so there is no moisture trapped in your pages.
Wrap Your Books
Wrapping your books in paper towels or acid-free dividers can help prevent them from sticking together and preserve the images on your books. Avoid using newspaper as sometimes its images and text transfer.
Proper Book Storage Containers: Plastic vs. Cardboard
When you invest in boxes to store your books in, you have a few options on the material. Plastic is better for cleanliness and keeping out pests, but is more expensive and may not fit your books as well as a cardboard box. Cardboard will provide less protection from the elements, but usually the books will fit more snugly in one of these boxes rather than a plastic bin that likely has curved edges. If you prefer to save the money on the plastic, a climate-controlled storage unit provides another layer of protection against the elements.
Also ensure that any box you use has a lid or some method of closing to provide more protection against pests and harmful elements. A lid will prevent dust buildup as well.
Silica Packets
Silica packets absorb moisture from their surroundings. Throwing a few into your book storage can help give you that extra peace of mind that your books will stay dry and clean.
In the Storage Unit
Climate-Controlled Storage
Temperature and humidity have the potential to greatly damage your books. Because paper is so fragile, we highly recommend you invest in climate-controlled book storage to control these elements. The best temperature for books is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below. If it gets too hot or cold or fluctuates too much, the paper can become brittle, warped, or wrinkled over time. The same goes for humidity–too much humidity gives way to mold and mildew, and can cause your pages to be deteriorated by the moisture. Look for a storage unit that controls humidity.
Stack Carefully
When you stack your books into their boxes, do not stack them vertically as you would put them on the shelf. This places undue pressure on the spines and can warp or break down your books in storage. Instead, stack them horizontally with the covers on the top and bottom. This will ensure that the section of the book with the largest surface area is the one holding the weight of the books on top.
When filling in the box, stack lighter books on top. Putting lighter books on the bottom will cause them to be crushed by the heavy ones on top. Most importantly, do not overfill any boxes. If you cannot carry a box, there are likely too many books in it. Ensure the box has no extra space so the books do not slide around in it, but don’t cram so many books in that they get warped or broken over time.
Check Regularly
As with any valuable, easily deteriorable materials you place in a storage unit, be sure to check every month or so to make sure no deterioration is occurring. Unfortunately, life happens and sometimes your safeguards fail. Checking in every so often could be the difference between a little bit of damage on a couple of books and losing your whole collection.