Preserving a historic collection
Books were used and re-read multiple times. There was little thought that books bought for the Portico may exist and be used for another 200 years. Deterioration can be caused by their exposure to light, heat, damp as well as the number of times books have been handled throughout the centuries.
All of the books were borrowed and have their own stories of readers and use. For example, we have a reading list of the books that we know that the writer Elizabeth Gaskell borrowed from our collection.
If you have visited the Library, you will see that some spines have come off and many of them need white cotton strings to hold the books together. Some books have been here since 1806 or soon after. Lending records in the front of our books show how popular each volume was.
The Librarian made a note of the member who borrowed them by their proprietor’s number. These inscriptions can cover a page or two for ‘fashionable’ books at the time, such as the fourth (and last) volume of George Eliot’s Middlemarch (published in 1872).
Today, our small team of Collection Care volunteers come once a week to clean, reattach the book boards, apply gel to slow down the decay and even sew whole volumes back together!
With the space restrictions and the huge number of volumes to care for, it is difficult to prioritise what needs urgent attention first. Everyone can help save our independent library’s heritage. The Adopt-a-Book scheme was designed to connect the public with our damaged books.
It is vital that these books are preserved for future generations to enjoy and learn from. Anyone can make a difference by donating to our Endangered Books List Fund, which will enable the Portico to source new materials, equipment and skills to conserve our historic collections. Please speak to a member of staff if you want to discuss charitable giving in more detail.