Storing in an attic

I posted this on the Folio Society forum a few days ago, but I just discovered this group and thought I might seek your collective wisdom as well.

I'm at a point where I need to store some books in the attic. The dredges have been donated or given away, but there are still those that I can't seem to part with, but just don't have space for. I suppose I should mention that this overflow does *not* include any fine press books, or even books of the easton press/library of america variety. The bulk are textbooks from university and paperback books. There are a handful of hardcover books in there as well.

The attic is dry and pest free. Thats the good news. The bad news is that it gets quite cold in the winter and VERY hot in the summer.

I know that I will be damaging the books, my question is: what reasonable steps can I take to protect them as much possible in these temperatures?

I'm looking into an attic fan, but I'm thinking more along the lines of methods of packing, packing materials, storage containers, etc. As of right now they are in "tupperware" style containers with lids.

Any input?

You can't protect them in the attic. Granted, as a matter of course, I place newly-purchased used books in the freezer for a couple of weeks, but I've got them sealed in a few layers of plastic. Just don't break the seal until the books have been returned to room temperature and you've wiped off any condensation.

But heat is a killer. There's no recovery from heat damage that isn't going to cost you more than you could ever expect to get for the book if you might try to sell it. You could pack it in inches-thick Styrofoam containers, and the heat can still cause damage.

Why put used books in the freezer?

Maybe bugs?

Bugs, yes, and mold. With a brand new book, there almost no likelihood of these problems. You don't know where a used book has been, so I tend to err on the side of caution.

Makes sense.

As far as the attic goes - I know that I am damaging the books. I am not considering resale at all, just trying to minimize damage as much as possible - even if it is only a little bit better.

Hmm. I honestly wouldn't worry too much - as long as they're dry and in good condition when they go up there, and protected from bugs, dust, etc., they should be fine. I've stored books (some of them old 19th century leatherbounds) in an uninsulated attic, in a climate with summer temps up to 100° F and high humidity, and way hotter in the attic, and not had any heat damage to speak of over thirty years (and some of them were in Grandpa's attic thirty years before that - sure they're not in perfect condition anymore, but seventy years in storage will do some damage regardless, unless it's museum quality.) Humidity is far more dangerous than heat, but even when ground level humidity is around 90%, the attic doesn't tend to have dampness problems and have pretty stable humidity (even when the rest of the house does).

If your attic does have dampness issues, it's definitely worth at least throwing some chemical dehydrators in with the books, but most attics seem to be okay-ish on that issue as long as they don't leak.

I have had bindings damaged by heat after being left in a car on a summer day, though, and I would note that paperback books (especially more recent ones) are far more likely to be heat-damaged, if the glue melts; if you have a choice, I'd actually store hardcovers with sewn bindings up there, and keep the paperbacks downstairs. And not books with really low-quality, high-acid, or already acid-damaged, pages.

I would say that sealed Tupperware containers is a good start (we've had periodic silverfish damage with papers in cardboard boxes or books on shelves, and general dust and grime will build up over years). Pack them so they lay flat and fairly even - I know you're supposed to store them vertical like on shelves, but you can get major warping damage due to temperature changes if they're even slightly off-vertical, so I've found it's generally safer to lay them flat. If there are any books with large paper covers or dustcovers, make sure they have something on top to reduce the tendency of the covers to curl. On the other hand, don't make the stacks too heavy or pack them too tight - use general book-boxing standards. Don't go up there and poke at them during extremes of heat (not that you probably would anyway.) Basically, try to box them so that if they momentarily got turned into jello, they would keep their shape until they changed back, and you should avoid the worst of it.

If you have a more stable-temperature area in the attic (for example, we have a brick chimney that cuts up through ours and provides some thermal mass, or sometimes the area around the attic stairs, or right by the ventilation, is a little better) put the books there.

That's really about it. Attic is *so* much better than basement, really, even with the temperature changes, because of less worry about humidity.

Wow, thank you!

This is an interesting puzzle. I think I agree with melannen's theories. One more thought on moisture. What about a moisture absorbing substance in each container? Like those little packets they put in vitamin bottles only industrial size. Don't know what that is or how to go about it but seems like it should help.

An update:

I recently heard back from two emails I sent out. One to an "ask a preservationist" email address and one to a preservationist at the Library of Congress. They answered this questions as well as my lighting question (and I'll post their lighting answer in that thread). Their answers were nearly identical.

For the attic storage question they reiterated that there is only so much you can do to prevent heat damage, but suggested that if this is the only storage option, I do the following;

Pack the books in an acid-free cardboard box.
Wrap that box in insulation (or use crumpled newspaper if cost is a concern)
Place the smaller box, wrapped in insulation, inside a larger box.
Seal the larger box.

The larger box can be either cardboard or plastic (plastic if leaking is a possible concern.

Thought I'd share!

25% off dust jackets at Brodart until Mon., Sept 17th. http://www.shopbrodart.com/

Some plastics can release gasses that are acidic and cause problems for books and paper. That's why we talk about archival materials, both cardboards and plastics which do not have excess acid problems.

The other problem with plastic bags and boxes comes if there is an "air tight" seal and the item is closed in a high humidity situation such that the water condenses out of the air inside as it cools.

The advice given in #10 is designed to provide thermal insulation so that the changes in temperature around the boxes is less likely to get to the books inside.

James

I've had pretty good success with mass market paperbacks laid flat (as suggested above) in cardboard comic book "long" boxes that I keep in my garage. You can get an average of around 70 paperbacks in each box, there's a top to go on the box, and there are holes for handles in the boxes. In order to keep out critters that may want to go in the most inviting openings (the handle holes), I slide a comic backing board down the ends of each box to block them. It's not perfect for keeping out bugs, but I haven't had any serious incursions (and I dig through the boxes fairly regularly to find books I want to read or that I want to take to a signing, so it's not like "out of sight, out of mind").

Now, I live in southern California, so my garage gets fairly hot in the summer, though probably not quite as hot as in an attic, but I've had books in the boxes for going on nine years now with very little tanning/brittleness to show for it; of course, your mileage may vary, as they say.

Good luck with it, whatever you do.

For mass-market paperbacks I have found that the photo/VHS boxes with lids from places like Michaels Craft Stores are pretty good. Often they have a deal of 5 for $10 ($2 each compared with about $4 each normally). Sometimes I'll put an author or series in these and use them for backshelving since they don't take up much more space than the books loose. However, it keeps them contained and they are fairly well closed. Using these inside something larger with insulation could be an idea.

Ikea has Kassett DVD boxes with lids that can be used for some other kinds of books, either 12mo size in the long direction or 6x9" digest size in the other direction.

Globe Weiss has various size green-colored boxes with lids used for storing index cards. The box for 6x9 cards can comfortably hold several kinds of items. I've used them for 8.5x11 magazines (flat) and 5.5x8.5 magazines (spine up). In the field of juvenile series books, several of the publications come in this smaller size so I have about a dozen of these boxes. I find that the office stores don't have the 6x9 sizes so I have to special order them from Staples or Office Depot. Likely they are available on Amazon, etc.

The three styles of boxes can be labeled and this can help with organization.

James

Yeah, cardboard vs. plastics is a trade-off on sealing & durability vs. mysterious chemical leakage. Has anyone had books damaged due to outgassing of plastics? I would be more hesitant to store anything with photographic prints or delicate fabrics (or other plastics) in them than books; if you're really serious and have money to lay out, archival (plastic or paper) is always the best choice, but if you're not going for archival, I'm not convinced that cardboard is less risky than Rubbermaid or Tupperware. (And Rubbermaid will keep the bugs out, and is less likely to disintegrate itself than non-archival cardboard.) However I'd be really careful with any plastics that aren't rated for long-term storage or cooking; some of them will go weird and gooey after awhile in the attic (and this includes stuff you might think about lining cardboard with.) Lining Rubbermaid with low-acid cardboard is probably the best if you want to be sure without shelling out for archival materials.

Humidity-wise, plastic can only seal in what's already there; if you box the books in dry weather and they're dry when you do it, that shouldn't be a problem. (never, ever store *anything* airtight if it isn't thoroughly dry to start, unless you *want* it to stew in its juices.)

As for the insulation advice: I really don't think that's worth ithe trouble? Insulation helps against relatively *rapid* changes in temperature - so if you're living in a place where your attic might drop forty degrees in a few hours and then go back up just as quick, or where you know your attic is sweltering in the afternoon but cool by midnight every day, it might be worth it, because it'll average out the temperature over those timescales. And it probably is the best advice they can give short of renovating the whole attic, because there probably will be some temperature changes on those timescales.

But if your attic's like mine, what will happen is that as your attic heats up over the course of a heat wave, your books will heat up just as much, only more slowly; then as your attic cools down after the heat wave, your books will cool down more slowly; and they will end up spending just as much time in the heat, only time-shifted a little. (I have opened boxes of stored blankets two days after a heat wave's over, when I'm wearing a sweater in the attic, and stuff in the middle of the box still feels like it's fresh out of the dryer.)

I also want to add that you must be careful about temperature and humidity! Anything more than 50% humidity is going to destroy your books! I found some good tips here, that I follow for my antique books: https://www.storagewest.com/blog/properly-store-books/