Insects Cockroaches visit the library for a drink of water, and then they stay to eat the animal glue used in the spines of books and the pizza fragments left by readers. Silverfish and firebrats, their heat resistant cousins, eat the starch sizing on the surface of paper and bookcloth. Bookworms exist everywhere. In New England the common form of bookworms are carpet beetles and their larvae. Dogs looking for bones use books as substitutes.
Human factors Making photocopies can crack spines and break brittle pages.
Each year thousands of books are highlighted, underlined, defaced, torn, cut out of their covers, dropped and generally abused. Exposed to rain and snow, pages stick together and covers become sticky. When you enter the library through the PAC entrance, you can see the preservation and repair being done in Olin 005. As a user, you can help by remembering that each book should be handled in a manner guaranteeing availability for future users. We are dedicating the month of November to highlight the need for preservation in the library.