Pecan Tree Books

Basic Care of Your Books

The care of books is fairly straight forward unless you are talking museum quality and that is a different subject altogeather. Treat your books with repect and a little common sense and they will be fine.

Always use bookmarks, avoid folding corners or pages
Do not leave objects in books, paper, flowers etc. will make the pages discolor.
Remove from the shelf properly, do not pull from the shelf by the top of the spine. Instead, push the two neighboring books back and grasp the one you want in the middle of the spine.
Do not open a book any farther than it wants to go. Opening any book more than 190° (flat) causes the spine to break and crack over time. Always support the book's spine while it is open, never forcing it to lay open.
Storing books - Books should never be boxed or stored with spines facing upward. This puts pressure and the weight of the book on the spine. Keep your books upright or lying flat so that the spines remain straight.
Temperature control - not too hot, not too cold and never where it is damp or very humid. Keep out of direct sunlight.
Cloth bound books handle with clean, dry hands, lotions, sweat can stain the book covers. Leather books can benefit from being gently handled since the oils from your skin keep them supple.
Cleaning is a can of worms, there are some commercial products that work and sometimes a gentle soap will remove stains but for the most part just leave them alone they are old books and have been handled by many people which is part of the charm if you want a pristine book buy a new one.
Smells and yes old books do sometimes stink. There are a lot of ideas on how to eradicte the odor. Everything from cat litter to baking soda. I just air them out for a week or so and that helps.
Restoration is best left to the experts. Never use scotch tape or glue on your books, if you want to try to repair them there are specialty products designed for books. Do a search and you should be able to find a local source for these products.
Yellowing and foxing (brown spots on the paper) can not be fixed.