Time will take toll on scrapbook, expert says

PROVO — Scrapbook hobbyists may not like what Deberah Wender has to say.

The professional book preservationist eschews cellophane tape, particularly the double stick kind, rubber cement, stickers and other popular items used to create scrapbooks for a simple reason: They don't hold up. Although clear and near invisible when applied, tape eventually discolors and loses its stickiness, while rubber cement and other glues eventually bleed through and stain the object they were supposed to preserve.

Stickers lose their tackiness over time, and in short, scrapbooks created today using popular at-home methods simply don't last, she said.

Wender, the director of book conservation at Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Mass., was at Brigham Young University recently giving instruction at the Harold B. Lee Library on scrapbook preservation.

Basements and attics, especially in her native New England, "are horrible places to store (scrapbooks)," she said.

She suggested preserving old scrapbooks in boxes made for them and in rooms where the temperature and humidity can be controlled.

Commercial boxes made for that purpose are best and cost about $7 each, she said. The boxes, which have metal corners, are chemically stable and usually come with buttons and ties to close them up. She advised stacking them no more than two or three boxes high. Much of the care, however, relates to how the scrapbook is used, whether for exhibition, research or simply a family album.

As for old scrapbooks, "You really have to handle these babies with care," she said. Their pages become brittle over time. Less than careful handling can damage them.

She suggested several techniques in caring for them:

• Photograph or scan each page, then box the original away.

• Interweave smooth paper between the pages.

• When opening, cradle the cover in foam to protect the binding.

• Don't open a scrapbook any farther than it's willing to open and lay it flat on a table.

• Use soft, white gloves when handling old photographs.

• Do not use Post-It notes on the pages. Over time the glue transfers to the page.