Tips to Keep Your Books Looking Great 書籍保存的秘訣

If you’re a bookworm， you see books the way others see their closest friends and family. And， just like people， these companions need a little care and attention if you want them to remain with you. Luckily， books are easier than humans—only a few basic rules will keep them happy. Here are a few tips to keep your books from being damaged.

如果你是一個書迷，你會像其他人對待他們最親密的朋友和家人一樣對待書籍。而且，就像對待人一樣，如果你想讓這些“同伴”留在你身邊，它們需要一點照顧和關注。幸運的是，書籍比人類更容易留存——只需注意簡單的幾點就能讓它們“感到高興”。這里有一些防止書籍受損的小貼士。

1.Use a bookmark—but don’t leave it in there forever.

使用書簽——但不要將它一直留在那里。

We’ve been interrupted mid-chapter—who hasn’t been guilty of splaying a book text down onto a table？ A little planning will save your book from dog-earing. However， if you leave a bookmark in a book for years， it’s easy for bookmarks themselves to put undue pressure on the binding or leave unwanted traces， like outlines.

我們曾在讀某章節時被打斷過，誰沒有因為把書本翻開鋪在桌子上而感到內疚呢？稍加注意就可以避免你的書出現折角。然而，如果你把書簽留在書頁間多年，書簽本身很容易對書頁施加過度壓力或留下不需要的痕跡，例如輪廓。

2.Don’t pull the top of the book’s spine.

不要拉扯書脊的頂部。

It’s so handy， that extra bit of material on the head of the book’s spine. While that little section of the book is one of the weakest parts. The more you fiddle with it， the more likely you are to damage the book. Just reach a bit further back and pull the book down by the edges of the text block， or grab the book by its sides.

抓住書脊上方的突出部分非常方便拿取，但這一小部件是書籍最薄弱的部分之一。你越是擺弄它，就越有可能損壞這本書。只需夠到書脊上方后面一點，通過書芯的外緣將書向下拉，或者抓住書的兩側即可。

3. Keep books out of direct sunlight.

讓書籍遠離直射的陽光。

Just like a sunburn， too much exposure to UV rays will change the color of your books. Some colors are notoriously fugitive， like the red band on the dust jacket of the first edition of The Sound and the Fury—but an unfaded red band on that jacket can make a difference of $10，000 in the rare book world.

就像曬傷一樣，過多地暴露在紫外線下會改變書籍的顏色。有些顏色是出了名的容易褪色，比如《喧嘩與騷動》第一版護封上的紅色帶，在珍本市場，若護封上的紅色帶未褪色，那么它的估價會比褪色的高10 000 美元。

4. Pick a room temperature and stick with it.

選擇一個室溫并保持不變。

No attics！ No garages！ No cars！ Books ideally like their surroundings a little bit cool， but the most important aspect of temperature is consistency. Any room that experiences wide variations in temperature is going to cause disasters on your books.

閣樓不行！車庫不行！汽車也不行！理想情況下，微涼的環境有利于書籍的存放，但有關溫度最重要的還是其衡定性。任何溫度變化較大的房間都會對您的書籍造成嚴重破壞。

5. Watch out for mold.

注意霉菌。

According to Michael Frazier， conservator at University of Nevada， Las Vegas’s Special Collections， mold is “a tricky and dangerous business”. In other words， any time the word MOLD appears in a sentence with books， it should be read in ALL CAPS. If you see MOLD on a book， isolate that sucker as soon as possible.

內華達大學拉斯維加斯分校的特殊收集中心的管理員邁克爾·弗雷澤表示：出現霉菌是“一件棘手且危險的事情”。換句話說，任何時候“霉菌”一詞和書同時出現在一個句子中，都應該全部大寫。如果你在一本書上看到“霉菌”，請盡快隔離那個“渾蛋”。

Word Bank

guilty /'ɡ?lti/ adj. 感到內疚的

fiddle with 不斷擺弄

He was fiddling with his keys while listening to the speech.

consistency /k?n's?st?nsi/ n. 一致性；連貫性

isolate /'a?s?le?t/ v. （使）隔離，分離