If you’ve ordered or are thinking of placing an order for a quantity of books from your favorite book printer, you should consider how you are going store those books when they arrive. Ask for the dimensions of the box from the printer.

First of all you need an area that is neither hot or cold in temperature nor damp. Storing books on the concrete floor of the garage floor is a recipe for trouble. Moisture and/or dampness will transfer through the floor into the books. This also holds true for stacking the boxes against an outside concrete wall. Basically books and concrete are not a good mix. If you have to put your books in a garage, make sure the boxes are on a pallet so they can get air circulation under them and are at least six to twelve inches from the wall.

Open cartons of books can attract insects and mice. Once you open a book box, transfer the remaining copies to a plastic bin with a sealed cover. Unhatched insect eggs can appear as small specs on the pages and if caught in time can be cleaned with a soft brush. Rodent damage means value loss  as you’ll need to destroy the books.

If possible store books in a climate controlled area, so that fluctuations of temperature and humidity can be controlled such as an interior closet.  Make sure your book storage area is not somewhere susceptible to water damage perhaps from flooding, leaky ceiling or broken pipes.

Books also should not be stored on edge, even when packed in cartons. A good book printer rotates spine out or spine in every few books so the weight of the spine is not pressing on all copies.

Keep in mind these suggestions are for soft cover or hard cover books for general usage and sale. Rare or extremely valuable books have additional storage concerns need to be addressed. The suggestions here are based on the most common issues that arise resulting in damaged books.