Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house said Henry Ward Beecher. But while its great to read a book, it is less exciting to keep it safe from dirt.

There are luckily, safer ways to clean up soiled books. The first thing to remember while cleaning books, is to keep the whole operation simple.

An expert from the Assocation for Library Collections and Technical Services, of the American Library Assocation in Chicago says that it is enough to just dust books with a soft cloth. If there are fingerprint or food smudges on it, then you can use a damp sponge or cloth, but it should not be wetted.

If your paperback books get smudged, try a very soft eraser to rub gently over the smudge. It is a coloured book, you should be very gentle while using the eraser. If the books are leather-bound, such as  your old priceless  favourite treasures -  wipe them with a clean dry cloth, or gently vacuum off the dust.

Here is a somewhat laboured method for removing musty smells from old books! You will need two clean garbage can-type containers, one should be small enough to fit into the larger one with some room to spare. Place the musty book in the small can, and put that can in the larger one.

Then pack some odour-absorbing material like baking soda, or plain charcoal briquettes in the bottom of the bigger can, around the base of the small one. Cover the big pan and let it remain for several days and it will slowly remove the musty smell from your books.

A vacuum cleaner with a long soft brush attachment to clean the spines of books is a good idea for cleaning up a large book shelf.

Another smart thing to do is to line the top of a tall bookcase with old newspaper. When dust collects, just throw off the old paper and replace with a new one! You can also use a new paintbrush to brush the dust off the shelves.

And if book-lice come to visit have you ever thought of using your hair-dryer to tackle them? Just give them a nasty blast with it, on its hottest strength! Breadcrumbs are not just good for making your tomato soup tastier. Try cleaning the tops of your old books by gently rubbing them with breadcrumbs.

And if you want to restore a wet book when rainwater has seeped into the house, or you have dropped the book down in the wet bathroom, put sheets of blotting paper between the pages of the first half. Keep an even weight on top and dry with a hair dryer. Do the same thing for the other half of the wet book.

You can also dry out books by keeping them under the sun – to stop them wrinkling place paper towels on both sides of every wet page. Close the book and let it sit overnight with a heavy book on top.

When moving out to a new house, don’t pack boxes full of them because you will not be able to lift them. You could even hurt your back badly. Just pack in half at a time!

Make an environmental bulletin board. Post notices about community environmental services, classes, where to learn to grow medicinal plants etc. One such place in Bangalore is: The Medplan Conservation Society : email: amruth@frlht.org and the other is; UAS medicinal herb garden.

Emily Dickinson said ‘’There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away.” Just make sure the rains don’t take the books away from you.