Mold

I'm posting this question for an academic library that has had
considerable mold problems before and after Hurricane Fran. The
staff knows it needs to lower the relative humidity, keep air
circulating, etc., but they, like many of us, no doubt, have noticed
that some of their runs of publications with library bindings tend
to support mold growth more than others. Even though they come from
the same library binder and are stored in the same conditions, some
volumes grow mold and others do not. Is it a function of the cloth
and/or any of its attributes, such as starch, acrylic resin or
pyroxylin?

Is there any way of stipulating a grade of cloth or lack or addition
of any impregnating materials to procure a cloth that will not
support mold growth? Or is it just a chance match between a certain
type of spore and a certain type of host that facilitates the
growth?

Harlan Greene
North Carolina Preservation Consortium

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:36
                Distributed: Saturday, October 12, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-36-006
                                  ***