When reading, just chill

For those among us who still read actual books, stop me if you’ve heard this before: You crack open that thrift store paperback for a little late-night reading and—ack!—slinking across page 12 is some small, silver, semi-translucent thing with legs everywhere.

Meet the silverfish. Or the book louse. Silverfish go for the starch in old bindings. Lice go for the mold that moves in when moisture does.

The fix is the freezer. Kristi Westberg, interim head of preservation and conservation at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, says it works 🔐. Seal the book in a bag first so condensation doesn’t form as it thaws. Leave it three days, six if you’re being careful. Eggs can survive a first freeze, so a bad case may need a second round.

Freezing treats the bugs, though, not the cause. And the cause is where Baton Rouge has a problem.

Westberg’s target is 40% to 60% relative humidity and 60 to 77 degrees. Her advice is to keep books out of attics, basements and garages, where conditions swing. Here, relative humidity averages in the mid-70s% in most months, and September mornings run around 91%. Your garage isn’t storage. It’s a terrarium.

For books that matter, conservator Jeff Peachey of Peachey Conservation in New York recommends a custom archival box. It blocks light, softens humidity swings and protects the cover. And before you buy that garage-sale find, give it a sniff. A musty smell paired with spotting or water damage means keep it away from the rest of your shelf.

Not every book has a problem. For the ones that do, the cure is as near as your kitchen. Besides, when even fall temps here climb into the 90s, a “cool” read sounds refreshing.