It's everywhere. In books from public libraries to academic institutions. It's in your used textbooks. You may have even put some in your own text books or children's books. Cellophane tape -- that clear tape that allows you to stop that rip but see through to the text below.
After all, nothing can be worse than a torn page, except one that evolves into a larger and larger rip. Why not mend it now with that ubiquitous clear adhesive tape? It's in your desk, in your drawer at home, in every grocery, drug and convenience store. It's practically a cure-all for paper.
In a recent preservation class at UIUC, a gasp filled the room as one student admitted to using cellophane tape before being enlightened by the course (of which cellophane tape has its 20 seconds of fame, a mere mention in the vastness of preservation). Come now, fess up, we've all done it -- well meaning, yet ill-advised beginners in book preservation and we can understand why others would tape their pages too.
What's the big deal about cellophane tape? It's not only terrible for the paper (it's acidic and causes pages to break down, it creates a ridge where a new rip can -- and usually does -- form, it yellows and the cellophane falls off leaving a sticky residue, etc.). But it's more than that.
Cellophane tape is the representation of how little is known about preservation in the wider community. Even many libraries use tape to repair tears. It shows how far we need to go in educating others about preservation -- not only in people's individual collections, but in libraries and archives.
I don't want to admonish current and previous cellophane tape users. They've (we've) all meant well, so let's admit we've all done it, but now that we know more, we can move on to other forms of repair.
Please share your tape stories or pictures below.
Additional Reading
NYU Library on Scotch Tape
Stamps & Scotch Tape
Penn State Special Collections Library: Rare Books & Manuscripts: FAQs on Preservation
Cons Dist List Post on "Preservation" Scotch Tape
Images from Getty Images. Image #BU006989
