Shakespeare On the Rocks

IT'S PACKED WITH CORNED BEEF, popcorn chicken, Hamlet and chocolate chip ice cream. No, this isn't a students desk after cramming for a Shakespeare midterm, it's the Thayer Dining Hall main freezer. Until recently the massive walk-in unit—bigger than most dorm rooms—doubled as the Dartmouth Library Preservation Department's damaged book depository.

When older library books are returned wet or moldy—as 12 were just prior to the 2000 Commencement—the best way to prevent serious damage is to freeze the books at temperatures as low as minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit. This helps keep a book in circulation by preventing pages from fanning and expanding, which ruins bindings. The dangerous moisture is frozen solid and then evaporates through the process of sublimation.

The class of 1931, led by president Edward Brummer, heard of Baker-Berry Library's need for an in-house preservation unit and responded with a gift of a 4by-7-foot steel-covered, state-of-the-art Beverage King blast freezer that now resides in the lower level of Berry Library. This isn't your basic suburban basement model: The $4,195 unit features a powerful fan that expedites the sublimation of frozen moisture.

"This gift is a tremendous help to us here in preservation," says specialist Barbara agraves. "This will allow us to respond more rapidly to returned books that are damaged."

The new freezer is spacious enough to hold 200 volumes, which would be a rare disaster. "Many of the books we deal with are very old and susceptible to damage," Sagraves says. "This freezer may allow us to save a book that is otherwise out of print and irreplaceable."

Try It at Home!

Did you leave a book out on your deck in the rain? Spill coffee on that anthology of Robert Frost poetry? Don't panic, because the same technology that the Berry Library staff uses in these situations is available in your kitchen. If you have a freezer that can get really cold (minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit) and has a strong fan, you can freeze-dry your book like a pro. Here's what to do: Wrap the book in wax paper and fasten it taut with rubber bands.Though times may vary, Berry's librarians say one to three days of chilling (there will be no damage to the book because of the cold) should be sufficient to save your literature.