Info for cacheing books

[Kenneth Eames]

I am looking at burying books for a Survival situation. I have very little room left in the flat for storage and my workshop is also full of material. In view of this, I have many books, which I wish to keep for a Survival situation. Has any of our subscribers any experience of cacheing books? would bubble wrap or other plastics be of use to protect them? I shall bury them in wooden boxes. Anyone who has knowledge of protecting books and can pass on the necessary info, I would be very grateful maybe there are Librarians on the site. Kenneth Eames.

[Scythe13]

For caching books, you're going to have to get hold of silicon sachets to reduce the oxygen present. Also, wooden boxes won't be very good. Wood breaks down over time. You'd be better off using plastic boxes, but not plastic bags, as they also break down (much faster than expected). The main thing you need to keep them away from is water (thus why wooden boxes won't be too good. Personally, I'd go with mylar bags, with rice (for water) and silicon sachets (for oxygen) and bury the whole lot in a plastic box. One last issue with paper is parasites. Some are tiny little things that can live on eye-lashes. Probably not a major issue, but just in case, you could always smoke the books a little, to kill them off for sure. Books worms are VERY rare in the UK, but better safe than sorry.

Also, have you considered the option of scanning the books and keeping the data in a USB pen that can be buried in quite the same way?

[Skean Dhude]

I've never tried to bury a book before although I have put plenty into storage nor have I heard of any books surviving long term in storage.

As you are looking for about 20 years max and I have stored books in an ordinary room for over 30 years I would guess that as long as they were kept dry and away from light they would be fine. Not hear of anything been eaten by anything.

However, you are talking about burying books. That does several things,
one it puts the container touching a damp environment wheich causes condensation on the inside,
two, it means you need a sealed container and this moisture on the inside is trapped and is obsorbed by the books, you can put silica gel in to obsorb water to resolve this but paper obsorbs water too.
three,the moisture in the air encourages mould. Mould is really bad for books.

So,you will need a sealable plastic box, and a lot of silica gel. Otherwise you can just put them in a corner of your loft where they will do fine as long as there is no mice. Platic box with holes in will keep themout.

[Highlander]

I would think strongly about buying a medium screw top plastic barrel

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-PLASTIC-BARR...2ecafd530c

Inside that you could put a plastic bag, the type that you can draw out all the air with a vacuum

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/pa...283873.htm

Place the books in the plastic bag, draw out all the air, and screw the lid on tight and bury, you have ensured that no air can get to the books, and no moisture can reach them either