Your best bet for controlling heat and moisture is of course a climate controlled environment like your home. Remember the rule that if you’re comfortable living in a space then your books will be too. However as we’re talking storage here that’s probably not likely to be the case.

Another common practice that I didn’t cover in my Care and Storage articles is keeping individual books in a plastic bag. The three most common types of “poly” bag used are polyethylene, polypropylene and Mylar. These are considered “archival” quality as they don’t have any chemical components that contribute to the breakdown of the paper. You can usually find them at a local comic book store or a web search will turn up a number of sources.

I may get around to doing a whole post on poly bags when time permits.

Are there any downsides to using desiccants? I know that paper can become TOO dry — same with the glue that holds paperbacks together. This is one of the reason old Ace Doubles (especially the D series) are so often in terrible condition… Cheap glue, which dried out and then disintegrated.

Any thoughts/advice on controlling the moisture content, as opposed to just cutting it back?

Thanks.