This is a message from CTLS-L.
Selecting "Reply" will send a message to the originator.
Selecting "Reply to All" will send a message to the entire list.
---------------------------------------------------------
A great idea from Karen Ellis in Taylor!
The Taylor Public Library gets a lot of very good donations
from a local cigar enthusiast. His wife kicks him out of the house and he
smokes back in his air conditioned shed, while reading some really popular
books. When he’s done, his wife donates them to us. Of
course, the books are all saturated with cigar smoke. We try just airing
them out somewhere, without a lot of luck. Staff had already tried baking
soda, with no good results.
So, last week, we conducted an experiment with the cigar-y
books, based on some recommendations in list servs & other sources:
- Put the book in the
freezer. We popped the book into a baggie and then placed it in the
staff freezer at City Hall. After a few days, we took it out.
The smell was miraculously gone! Until the book warmed up, that
is. Once it warmed up, it smelled just as cigar-y as before. I
have seen recommendations that putting a book in the freezer will remove
musty smells, but it simply cannot handle the strong cigar odors.
- Put dryer sheets in the
book. So, we put about 4 nicely scented dryer sheets in the book and
sealed it in a large baggie. After a week, we pulled out the dryer
sheets and took a whiff. There was not a lot of noticeable
improvement—it was still terribly cigar-y.
- Kitty litter—this is the
winner. We put about ½ cup or so of kitty litter (generic
store-brand because my cat doesn’t really care) in a large baggie
and put the book in. We sealed the baggie, shook the kitty litter
around the book, and let it sit for about a week. We then took it
out and were truly amazed. It hardly had any smell left—only
if you stuck your nose right into the spine of the book. It was so
much better than the other techniques. Sure, the kitty litter left
the books a bit dusty and there were granules of litter in the book, but
with some good shaking and wiping, no one will be the wiser.
Marinating in kitty litter proved to be our solution for cigar-y books.
Just for your information, in case any other libraries need
some suggestions for handling smelly books.
Karen Ellis
Library Director
Taylor Public Library
400 Porter
Street
Taylor, TX
76574
512-352-3434
|
