LIBRARY LIFE

Gladstone's Library, Hawarden

If you walk through the Reading Rooms and into the library annex, on certain days you might come across a group of volunteers doing slightly mysterious things to books.

As they chat companionably, they whisk soft brushes against the pages, rub dry soot sponges across the covers and sometimes tie books up with fabric strips or place them carefully into custom-made boxes.

They are helping to preserve some of the older books in the collection.

Librarian Izzy explains: "We're working through the Gladstone Foundation Collection. We take books from the shelves, get the shelves cleaned as they can get dusty and bring the books into the back.

"The volunteers work on individual books. We talk them through different techniques of preservation, how the books are put together and how to spot the weak places that might end up being damaged by use."

The gentle brushing is to remove dust, which is an endemic problem in any but the most sterile environments.

The sponges wipe away other potentially damaging particles, as soot and other pollution settles on books.

Izzy says: "The volunteers have been using the sponges particularly on the tops of the books, as that's where dust tends to settle, but also on the edges, and it has made a massive difference.

"The other strand is to check the weak points, especially at the top of the spine where people tend to pull a book forward, and we have a spreadsheet where we're making a note of this damage.

"We have paper wallets and fabric tapes for if the boards - the top and bottom covers - are coming loose. We can secure the books with the tape. It also acts as a sign to readers that the books are more delicate."

The focus at the Library is on book preservation rather than conservation. Preservation protects a book from further damage, retaining their condition.

Conservation is more involved and may include adjusting the structure of the book and using more specialised techniques. Ideally, good preservation aims to stop the book needing conservation.

Dust, pollution and the impact of handling are unavoidable aspects of keeping books accessible but with Izzy and the volunteers, the books at Gladstone's Library are in safe hands.