Re: Protocols regarding food and drink in rare book collections

[Michele Kohler <cornflwr@cornflwr.demon.co.uk>]

28th October

I have read this thread with interest.

When researchers are using the special collecitons by all means it is
vital to control their interactions with the material - their hands
should be clean, they shouldn't be eating anything - especially not
chewing gum or boiled sweets - and they shouldn't have drinks of any
form - where do they put the cup or glass when it isn't in their hand?
They shouldn't have wet hair or wet clothes!

The reality of an instituion is that there is probably *vermin* about -
just think of what lives in the mattress on your own bed! But like the
dust mites the vermin is usually under control. And unless the humidity
and heat controls are so sensitive that they respond to the weather, the
time of day, the lighting, the fluctuation in the number of visitors -
well then it is just hoping that the current science is adequate!

Much more important is that the books are physically well housed. That
they are standing up straight with no excessive pressure on any one part
of the binding. That they are not packed so tightly that they are
damaged everytime they are removed from the shelves. that the air is too
dry that they crumble or so damp that they grow mould.

Just remember that a lot of the sources of your rarities are donors who
have had the collections in their own homes or booksellers who work from
home. We have manuscripts, incunables, pamphlets, leather and cloth
bound books here at home. We do all the sorts of things that people do
in their own home. We have cats that walk into and out of all our rooms.
Sure, we clear the meal from the dining table and wash our hands if
we've been eating a cheese sandwich - and want to look at something on
the largest flat surface in the place - but no one has yet ever refused
to buy something from us because the books are housed in a domestic
environment. Are librarians going to turn down gifts because the donor
had them at home?

The original query seems just a little too politically correct. Next
thing those comfy chairs in the rare book room at Duke - a very pleasant
space even if it is a little too dark and low ceilinged to rate as my
favourite rare book room - will have to go - dust mites, feathers, the
wrong kind of foam cushions....Just think of what might be clinging to
the soles of visitors' shoes....

bye for now.

Michele
cornflwr@cornflwr.demon.co.uk