The Big Storage Mistake You're Making That's Shortening The Lives Of Your Books

For many people, owning a healthy book collection is like having a personal treasure trove of inspiration and knowledge. Every book is unique and offers the chance to escape to a faraway place or learn something new. If you are a book lover, you know how attached you can become to all your books. So when the pages begin to yellow and the bright-colored covers start to fade, you might be eager to find ways to better preserve your books. There's one way to make your books last longer, however, which you might not have considered yet: keeping them out of direct sunlight. 

The trees that produce a book's paper pages contain a substance called lignin which, when exposed to air (a process called oxidation), causes them to turn yellow over time. The oxidation process is accelerated by exposure to sunlight. Not only do the pages yellow, but the covers and dust jackets also fade under the same conditions.

If you can't keep your bookcase or bookshelf in a low-sunlight room, the next best thing you can do is move your bookcase so that sunlight does not directly hit the books. If you're unable to move your shelves out of the light, you can either invest in UV-protected book jacket covers or UV-protective film for your windows. Keeping your curtains closed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are the strongest, would another way to shield them from harm.

Aside from keeping your books out of direct sunlight, there are other ways to extend the life of your books. Keeping your books dry is an essential aspect of book care, for instance. Of course, spilling water on a book will damage it, but humidity in the air can cause issues, as well. Storing books in humid areas, such as a basement or on a bookshelf on a screened-in porch, can lead to mildew growth and attract pests. This is true even when the books are kept in boxes. Extreme temperatures can also cause damage. So, whether you're keeping your books on a shelf or in a box, don't keep them in an area of your home that gets too hot or too cold. A temperature of around 70 degrees or slightly cooler is recommended.

Other ways to maximize the life of your books include keeping them upright, whether in a bookcase or box, rather than lying flat or stacked. They also should not be leaning. This can loosen a book's hinges and also cause it to lose its shape. So, if you see an empty space in your bookcase, insert a bookend or something that acts as one, or fill it with a book that's not in use so your books don't lean. Lastly, when removing a book from your shelf, grab it by the middle of the spine, while pushing the books on either side away with the same fingers.