Caring For Your Book
 

Some tips from Midwest Theological Forum on handling Liturgical Books, Prayer Books, and books in general:

 
First Use

• Handle your book with clean hands.
• Open your book about a dozen times to different spreads, pressing the pages with moderate force to help them lay flat; opening to only one section and pressing pages too hard can lead the spine to crack.
• A book with gilded (gold) edges likely uses water-soluble gilding; when halving your book blessed with holy water, hold the spine toward the aspergillum to prevent water spots on the gilded edges.

General Use

• Handle your book with clean hands.
• Give a quick blow to the top of the pages before opening your book; this prevents dust from falling between the pages. 
• Avoid having any liquids or foods nearby to prevent spills and stains.
• Avoid a bulky bookmark, e.g. one made of wood or cloth; a bulky bookmark puts tensile strain on the binding. 
• Avoid using a ribbon or bookmark to turn pages, as this can lead to unintended folding or even tearing.
• Avoid using saliva to turn pages.
• Avoid folding, or "dog-earing," the corners of the pages.

Shelving & Storage

• Shelve your book upright; shelving it at an angle can warp its shape.
• If you cannot shelve your book upright, shelve it laying flat, and rearrange the stack periodically to relieve stress on the lower books.
• Shelve books of similar height together; when shelved next to each other, the head of the taller book's spine tends to warp open, and the head of the shorter book's spine tends to compress.
• Remove your book from the shelf by holding the middle of the spine; pulling from the head or foot of the spine puts tensile strain on the binding.
• If your book's spine is already warped, do not attempt to straighten it; force will only damage the spine further.
• Avoid shelving a book for a significant amount of time with any bookmark; it can discolor and damage the pages.
• Shelve your book out of direct sunlight.
• Shelve your book in a controlled climate; humidity can lead to mildew.
• Dust your book and bookshelf regularly; dust the top of the pages out from the spine to avoid dust settling in the spine.
• Avoid storing your book in plastic; trapped humidity can lead to mildew, and some plastics release harmful gasses that can deteriorate the paper and binding on your book.