30/08/2026
๐งค We were recently asked why we have not been seen wearing gloves during the library catalogue work.
Most of the time we don't wear them for handling books. This is because the older a book is, the better we want to be able to feel its pages. Touch is one of the most sensitive senses: it tells us when there may be tiny catches or tears or imperfections in the pages that could be exacerbated if caught in a glove. It also gives us a sense of how 'healthy' the paper is โ is it too dry? Is it damp? Is there something on it? Can we straighten that dog ear?
To do this properly we do wash our hands a lot! Clean and dry hands with no oils or sweat are essential for making sure we aren't contaminating the pages.
So, do we ever wear gloves? Absolutely! When there are books that potentially have mould, or chemicals in the dyes of the covers that may cause harm, gloves are a must! Thankfully, most of the books we've catalogued so far in the Haddo library haven't caused concern.
The question of gloves in museums is an important one and very dependent on the collection or objects you are working with. If you would like to know more, this article from London Museum is very useful:
๐ https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/blog/why-are-you-touching-that-object-without-gloves
