A few of the rare books I’ve purchased recently arrived with mylar film protective covers. It looks snazzy and protects the books from damage due to wear, dirt, and light, so I started looking into gathering the materials that would be needed to do this myself. After watching this instructional video, I assembled:
- 2-mil thickness archival film in individual foldable sheets
- 3-mil thickness archival film on a 100′ roll
- hobby knife
- self-healing cutting mat
- ruler
- tape
It was quite relaxing! I forgot how much I enjoy crafting. I started with my oldest books and then ended up creating covers for some of the paperbacks I use most in the classroom, to prolong their shelf life. I used the thinner film for smaller and newer books and the thicker film for the bigger and older ones. For the new books and the paperbacks I taped the film to the book, whereas I left the film loose for more rare materials.
Eric Weiskott 