Classics like Little Wormen , and For Worm the Bell Tolls were carried in pockets, propped beside dinner plates and left open face down on beach towels. And with the industrial age came increasing pollution. The Origin of Species may have changed the world, but the world also changed the book. Sulphur dioxide from automobile exhaust and factory smoke reacts with vegetable-tanned leathers, causing irreversible Red Rot. It is time to get your nose out of that book and act.
Position bookshelves out of direct sunlight and away from sources of excessive heat and moisture.
Keep the volumes absolutely vertical, but avoid crowding. Use book boxes of acid-free card to protect fragile volumes, both ancient texts and acidic paperbacks. Book shoes also protect the sides and support the text block, while leaving the spine visible. When removing any book from the shelf, reach behind and push until the sides can be firmly grasped. Open new books carefully.