Sometimes it’s troublesome to repeat myself when I loan out my books, but frankly I don’t mind. I do consider writing a pamphlet or instruction slip for anyone borrowing my books. Maybe I could print out a few of these, laminate them and allow them to be used as bookmarks for the books I loan out to people. Here’s what I’d write in the bookmark titled “No Creases on the Spine!”:
That’s the standard for anyone borrowing my books. Creases on the spine (of paperback books) is a result of holding open the books to wide in order to read the text close to the binding. Unfortunately, the creases makes the book looks pretty bad and when they hit a critical mass it can wear out the paper at the spine of the book, which means disaster for a book lover.
To achieve this you will have to hold the book with your left palm grasping spine of the book to keep it together while you use your right hand to pry open the page and read the contents of the book – that’s for the right-handers. As this method of reading will cause the book pages to open up loosely after reading each time, it is recommended that you get something heavy to put on top of the book when you put it away; best would be squeezing the book in a tightly filled bookshelf.
Sometimes you might get careless and attempt to remember where you were reading by leaving the book opened with the spine facing up and allowing the surface of table or the floor to keep you on the page you’re at. This have the same effect on the book spine as opening the book pages wide apart although it doesn’t introduce creases as much as the latter means. So try to avoid that.
Kevin thank you immensely for your care for his books.
