Hello!
I took home two books (The Goldfinch and Conversations on Love) home from my local library's trade shelf. Now I'm overthinking freezing these books (severe OCD causing a fixation on the condition of my books to a detrimental degree) and I can't find one specific good source on this.
I live in a semi-cold place (ranging from 0-30°c in winter) and the shelf with these "trade books" was next to the door. I don't know how long they were there, but they look decent (as in only superficial damage). I don't see anything odd about them, but I'm spiraling downward and I would appreciate another perspective on this topic. Thank you for bothering to read my post to the end!
by shengogol
9 Comments
What do you think freezing the books would do? I would not freeze them. Do they smell bad? Do they have visible mold on them?
I would assume freezing would be detrimental to the books. You will need some kind of storage that will keep them dry as well as frozen. If you try to freeze them as is, it will cause the ice crystals to form on the pages, and then when you inevitably thaw the books, either voluntarily or due to outage/broken appliance, the water will cause whatever fungal spores present in the books to grow.
If you want to keep the books intact and don’t plan on reading them, you can vacuum seal them in a bag with some desiccant.
Books can’t be sanitized and they attract dust and mites. I prefer to give them away after reading. Can’t imagine putting a dirty old second hand book in the freezer with my food 😳
I don’t think there is any reason to freeze the books. It’s hard to follow your logic, but I’m sure it makes sense in your head. This does seem like a side effect of your OCD. I hope you have medical help for that.
I think your OCD is getting the better of you and you should look into things that alleviate your symptoms, but I don’t have OCD so what do know
I hope you are receiving therapy for your ocd, as this is a question best suited for one. I know from experience dealing with stuff like this without outside help is impossible
I don’t think they need freezing if they look to be in reasonably good shape. Freezing is usually to kill off anything that looks to be book lice or droppings of the lice. It is easy to see if the books have this problem. They would be crumbly and browning and stinking and feel damp. When I get used books all I do is spray antibac onto some kitchen roll, wipe down the cover back and front and the spine and air dry them for a few minutes.
If you’re worried about germs, freezing them won’t kill them.
Ive never frozen them. Nothing bad has ever happened.