Spring has Sprung! The Books are Getting Clean!

As the winter melts and spring flowers bloom, many people take the opportunity to do a bit of spring cleaning. It’s no different here at the Great Library, where the increasing warmth and sunshine have inspired us to give our books some extra attention. Books gathered in one place tend to create a lot of dust. One of the duties of library workers is to make sure that the books (and the shelves) are cleaned every so often so that dust and other particles don’t cause damage, either to other books or to people’s lungs.

Have you ever wondered what the process is for cleaning library books? Well, look no further for the answer!

You may be envisioning a staff member going around the library with a feather duster and while we will often clean shelving with a cloth, our process for cleaning books is a little different. The way we clean books depends on their condition. For books that are in good condition, they are taken off the shelves and individually vacuumed before returning to their usual spot. The vacuum might look a bit different than your run-of-the-mill household vacuum, but its job is the same:

A photograph of a commercial vacuum sitting on a worktable. The vacuum is a gray box with the words "Hoover Commercial PortaPower" written in orange and white on the side. — The Hoover Commercial PortaPower vacuum that Great Library staff use to clean shelves and books.

For our rare and fragile material, cleaning is a bit different. Vacuuming poses a problem as small pieces can be easily detached and sucked up by the vacuum. Instead, brushes are used to gently dislodge the dust. To prevent dust from being released into the air, it is recommended that you clean the books in some type of enclosure like the one pictured below.

Illustration shows a box laying on its side with the word "ACME" written on the top. A hand comes out of the right side of the page holding a brush. The second hand comes from the bottom holding a book that the brush is being used on. Two piles of books are shown outside the box. — **Left:** Illustration from Appendix D: Basic Preservation Procedures in **Preserving Archives & Manuscripts**, 2nd ed. by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler
**Right:** Photograph of the Great Library’s enclosure box with a rare book waiting to be cleaned.

A photograph of a box on its side with a few pieces of paper taped on the inside. A old book sits on the inside. — **Left:** Illustration from Appendix D: Basic Preservation Procedures in **Preserving Archives & Manuscripts**, 2nd ed. by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler
**Right:** Photograph of the Great Library’s enclosure box with a rare book waiting to be cleaned.

We crafted our own enclosure from the bottom half of a cardboard box placed on a table. Once in the enclosure, the book is cleaned on the top, sides, and bottom of the textblock (pages), as these are the areas where most of the dust and debris accumulate. Next, the covers are either wiped gently with a dust cloth or rubbed with a document cleaning pad to remove any marks. If the covers are detached from the spine, the book will be tied together with cotton twill tape. Finally, the shelves are vacuumed before the books are placed back on the shelf.

Photograph of cleaning supplies. There are dirty yellow dust cloths, a roll of white cotton twill tape, a dirty document cleaning pad, a small paint brush, a larger paint brush, a wooden ruler, and a pencil. — **Left:** Cleaning tools used for the rare books. From left to right: dust cloths, roll of cotton twill tape, document cleaning pad, two sizes of paint brushes, ruler, and pencil.
**Right:** Photograph of a rare book after cleaning and the application of cotton twill tape.

A photograph of an old worn book, held together with white cotton twill tape tied in a plus pattern. — **Left:** Cleaning tools used for the rare books. From left to right: dust cloths, roll of cotton twill tape, document cleaning pad, two sizes of paint brushes, ruler, and pencil.
**Right:** Photograph of a rare book after cleaning and the application of cotton twill tape.

Some of the books can be quite dirty and you may be wondering whether we handle our rare book collection with white cotton gloves while cleaning them. The short answer is no, we do not use cotton gloves when handling any of our material. Many articles¹ discuss why using cotton gloves is harmful to rare books, but the simple reason is that it reduces dexterity, causing more potential for damage when handling. Rare books can be dirty; handling them for even a few minutes will make your hands look like you’ve been playing in the literal sandbox. If someone handling the books truly does not want to use bare hands, nitrile gloves are the next best option.

Photograph of a hand with dirt showing on the palm and pads of the fingers. — **Left:** Picture of a library staff member’s hand after cleaning rare books.
**Right:** Picture of a library staff member’s hand with a nitrile glove on.

Photograph of a hand wearing a blue nitrile glove — **Left:** Picture of a library staff member’s hand after cleaning rare books.
**Right:** Picture of a library staff member’s hand with a nitrile glove on.

The next time a spring clean of your house feels daunting, consider the 200,000 books at the Great Library, and we’re confident your task will seem much more manageable.

Some articles on cotton gloves and rare books:
“No Love for White Gloves, or: the Cotton Menace,” by Alexandra K. Alvis in Unbound (Smithsonian Libraries & Archives), November 21, 2019.
“Misconceptions about White Gloves,” International Preservation News No. 37, December 2005. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/pac/ipn/ipnn37.pdf
“The Gloves Come Off!” by Alison Harding-Hlady in Library and Archives Canada Blog, April 5, 2019.
“Rare Books and the White Gloves Myth,” by Rebecca Romney in Rebecca Romney: Rare Book Specialist, November 21, 2012. ↩︎