Temperature can affect the look of historical documents
My family owns a supplier that most people have never even considered.
They browse museums and mosques and observe the historical artifacts presented to them on a silver platter. Without the job we do, you would be staring at withered, crinkled, and dust-ridden pages of some of the most sacred texts in history! Both of us are artifact preservers, and it has become a passion of mine! I even teach a course on this to museum staff. The first thing to guess about preserving books is that you need a temperature-controlled environment. The air conditioner cannot blow freezing air from a vent directly onto the text books, and cool air can cause the pages to become fragile and stiff. Additionally, the oil furnace cannot blow direct heat to the books! Hot air can cause the pages to become wilted and soft too suddenly. The temperature should be at a steady seventy-six degrees. This temperature should remain the same for as long as the books are in that space. It is highly encouraged that the air conditioner feeding your temperature-controlled room has a built-in whole-home air purifier that will cool the room and clean your air simultaneously. Particles in polluted air sit on top of the books and seep into the pages, discoloring them over time. A sterile environment with scrub air is required for lifelong books. I’d suggest asking your heating and air conditioning tech if they have had experience installing a whole-home air purifier into the plan because you want to get this right the first time. Historical books can discolor easily suddenly if the air is not purified instantly. While it can be a tedious process, preserving books is fulfilling in the most unexpected ways. It gives us the option to preserve our history, our ancestors, and life as all of us know it.