Some of the following hacks will be familiar to many of you. While they will not all work for everyone they are all tested and work amazingly well. Things like these are often a balance of desire, need, and monetary ability.
For myself, I have time while I do not have excess monies which is why these hacks are used in some cases. For legal purposes, this is only an educational article and all hacks have been done by experienced professionals.
Bookshelves – line with plexiglass, this allows for ease of cleaning as well as protecting the books from sap and wood mites, long-term storage requires well thought out approaches!
Book storage – always upright with dust covers on, out of direct sunlight, keep temperatures stable between 65-75 degrees and as close to 40% humidity as possible.
Box storage for books – keep in stable climate controlled area, stack them horizontally with largest books on the bottom and working like a pyramid upwards.
Antique books – do not touch them with bare hands unless no other option is available, use dust free latex or poly gloves, clean hands well and dry well – oils in your skin can speed the deterioration of paper and ink faster, this is a negative thing!
L-Shaped brackets – use these for safe storage of your books, out of direct sunlight.
Cannot sleep after reading with your electronic reader? – on your reading device, the blue light filter allows for reading without overstimulation of the optic nerves and this allows for much easier sleep
Night vision – for the safety conscious use an eye patch on your best eye or keep it closed while reading at night, this will allow that eye to work as your vision if you need to switch from reading to something else at night! (practice shooting and or doing normal tasks with that eye alone!)
Reading powers your mind!– The more you read the more intelligent you become!
Cant read at the moment or know someone who doesn’t read well? Use audio books! – there are several great systems to use from Overdrive through Amazon and audible you can always expand your abilities and or simply get some enjoyment!
Want a reading nook and have no room? – over the ear headphones, your favorite tea or drink, and put a chair where you have air flow and out of direct sunlight…regardless space if you can fit a chair in it you now have your den! Use the headphones to block out sounds or pipe in some Strauss, Beethoven or Vivaldi and just relax!
Free the mind and the body will follow
Thanks, Jessie. Did not know about plexiglass on shelves. I also have antique cookbooks dated back to Civil War.
Interesting!
JP, I love my books so, 🙂
Very cool Jesse. Once again more practical tips that I “should” have already known but never thought about…
The blue light filter should also be used on any electronic device by people with a predisposition to vision problems like Macular Degeneration.
Nice list.