The delicate art of preserving rare, old books

Ever wondered where some of the world's oldest books are kept, how they are stored and even how to access them?

A step into the world of rare and old books revealed intriguing features of libraries that are climate-controlled to specifically preserve delicate write-ups that form critical reference points to current innovations.

The Standard visited one of the United Arab Emirates' iconic libraries in the Emirate of Sharjah, known as House of wisdom and had access a unique space where century-old books are tightly secured.

The House of Wisdom is one of the largest libraries that was commissioned as a celebration of Sharjah winning the UNESCO World Book Capital 2019 title.

The library hosts unique spaces including special rooms known as the Wisdom Vault where centuries-old and rare books are kept to maintain their shape.

Unlike the open libraries, the rare books stored in glass rooms without windows. This helps to minimize exposure to light and dust. The vaults are climate-controlled, meaning that the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system is designed to maintain constant environmental conditions to preserve books.

“Wisom Vault host a special collection of old and rare collections. Some are over a hundred years old and others brittle,” Anthony Uche, Senior Administrative Coordinator at House of Wisdom said.

Most of the collections of the books at the vaults are donated books detailing on Islamic history and art, written in over ten languages.

But who access these highly delicate books under lock and key within the most secured parts of the library?

The Standard established that these books are accessed by researchers looking for rare information available in the collection. These copies are however accessed under supervision of qualified staff.

To access the books within the Wisdom Vault, researchers first formally write to the library to request for a special access, stating the information they would wish to access that are found within the books. The management then scrutinise their intention, verify whether the information they requested are within the collection. Once the request is approved, the researcher is allocated time to physically visit the library upon which they are prepared to get in to the highly guarded vaults.

“For us to touch or even handle these books, a lot of preparation has to be made. Those authorized to access have wear gloves and observe the regulations to maximize long-term survival of the collections," Uche explained.

The systems within the vault is highly specialized to detect fire at its earliest stages to minimise damage to the collections. Instead of the standard smoke detectors installed in ordinary libraries, the vaults use highly specialised detection systems that detect slightest smoke particles.

Traditional water sprinkler systems pose a huge risk of water damage to paper documents within the vaults and therefore, these unique rooms utilize gaseous fire suppression systems.

Water detectors are also installed to provide early warning of any potential leaks.

Uche says that while keeping the delicate books safe is a priority, the need to access the information within the books is critical. And now, the House of Wisdom is digitising some of these books to make it easy and accessible for researchers and allow books to live beyond their years.

"There has to be a balance at one point. We still need books to disseminate knowledge, people to access what is in these books,” he added.

He said while Africa has rich literature, there should be political will to create such repositories.

Glance Box

Some of the world's rarest and oldest books include the Codex Leicester, a notebook by Leonardo da Vinci; the Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed on a printing press; and Shakespeare's First Folio, a collection of his plays.

Other examples include manuscripts like the Voynich Manuscript and Codex Tchacos.