[DCRM-L] Poison books

[Julie Moore]

Please excuse my naive questions. This thread has brought to light that we
likely have "poison books" in our special collections (most of which have
been in our collection from the beginning of our library's history) ... so
we are just now trying to come up with a plan on how to deal with them.
Thank you for all the suggestions on how to treat them on the shelves
(Ziplock bags, silica packets, gloves, and etc.) and how to provide a
notification in the catalog.

My next question is about the patrons. We obviously need to keep our
patrons safe. If a patron comes in and wants to deal with one of these
books that they found in the catalog, how do you deal with them? How do you
handle the patron x poison book transaction? I am assuming that you let the
patron know that the book has a poison problem. Are the poison books not
allowed to be handled by patrons? (If so, what is the point in even
retaining such a book, if the patron is not allowed to read it?) Do you
supply the patron with the gloves, mask, a list of how to handle the book
(don't touch your face while handling the book, wash your hands after
handling the book, and etc.)  ... and a waiver of some sort?

Thank you so much for bringing this topic to light! I had no idea this was
even a thing that we should be concerned about!

Cheers,
Julie

On Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 9:13 AM Colleen Fedewa via DCRM-L <
dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu> wrote:

> Hello,
> Our preservation staff are working on "poison books" from Special
> Collections and wanted to know what type of note they should use locally
> about handling them carefully (when they add their preservation notes).
> Anyone have recommendations?
>
> Thanks for your assistance,
> Colleen
>
> Colleen O. Fedewa, MLS
> Acquisitions & Metadata Librarian
> Kelvin Smith Library
> Case Western Reserve University
> Cleveland, OH 44106
> colleen.fedewa at case.edu| (216)-368-3535 <(216)%20368-3535>
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-- 
Julie Renee Moore
Special Collections Catalog Librarian
Fresno State
julie.renee.moore at gmail.com
559-278-5813

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from
themselves.”... James Matthew Barrie
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