As tough as books appear to be, their structure is actually fragile. Removing books from shelves and then putting them back is often when damage occurs. The following suggestions are designed to help prevent unnecessary wear and tear on library materials.
Shelve books vertically and use a sturdy bookend for support. Books leaning at angles soon develop permanent warps. The stresses also cause tearing and cracking. If a book is too big to stand upright shelve them with the spine down. Place so that the call number end of the volume is toward the aisle. Books shelved on their fore-edges will tear right out of their covers.
Follow the recommendations above when loading book trucks. The same logic applies. It is tempting to turn the books onto their fore-edges in order to read their call numbers better. Resist the temptation!
Packing too many books on a shelf can cause damage. The force needed to pull off a book can break its spine or tear the cover. Do a small shift if possible and lessen the pressure on materials.
Books need good air circulation. If a book is pushed up against a wall or facing a row of books, no air can move through. Give books breathing space especially in warm, damp places.
Be careful about the types of bookends that you use. Ones with sharp edges can cut books and people. Short bookends may not provide enough support for a tall book. A bookend should reach half way up the book that it is intended to support. Some bookends will not stay in place, either because of the materials they are made from or their design. Avoid them if you can.
Holding a book around its middle is the ideal way to remove it from the shelf and to place it back on a shelf. No tugging on the head cap or tipping onto a corner is necessary.
Carry a moderate amount of books at one time in your arms, box or book truck. Overloading increases chances for an accident and damage to you and/or the books.
Please note that all books marked “Ref.” on the spine belong in the reference area. A “Ref.” book should never go in the circulating stacks area; likewise, a book for the circulating collection should never go in the reference stacks.
Read/Use more than one call number as a reference when shelving. Avoid shelving in reference to one item that's possibly miss-shelved, which can cause a chain reaction of many miss-shelved items! Use several surrounding call numbers as a reference.
The beginning and the end of each shelf are the most common spots where mistakes happen. If you are shelving a book that you think should go at the beginning of a shelf, be sure to check the end of the shelf that precedes it. You may find that there are books with the same cutter at the end of the preceding shelf. If you make a point of checking both these areas, there will be fewer mistakes.
Edging books is a very simple part of stack maintenance. Pull the books close to the edge of the shelf and even out the row.
Remember to space the books correctly on the shelf. remember to leave an even amount of space at the end of every shelf--usually about 1/4 of the total shelf space. Do not crowd shelves or cramp books!
Shelf-reading is an important part of stacks maintenance. It includes reading each call number in order to ensure that the books are properly shelved. Patrons often place books back on the shelves without knowing exactly how to shelve books.
Move through the stacks from left to right, and top to bottom by short shelves.
It is a good idea to take a quick survey of the shelves to get a sense of the physical extent of the alpha-range you're looking at so you won't inadvertently jump to the next subject letter.
Shelf-reading can take quite a while. It is more important that you take your time to be accurate than to rush through quickly and make mistakes.
While shelf-reading, you may find damaged pieces, such as missing a label, label falling off, torn or otherwise in need of repair books. When you are finished, record the last call number in the Shelf-Reading Log and pull these books and any other questionable items and bring them in to your supervisor.
After you have shelf-read for an extended amount of time, take a break.
Once again, we are more interested in making sure that the shelves are read precisely, not quickly. Do not hurry when shelf-reading.
