Reference books tend to be a bit expensive, so it makes sense to take good care of them. Here's what you need to know to ensure your reference book collection is around for years to come.

Maintain a pest-free environment. Rats, silverfish, and many other creepy creatures love to feed on, tear up, and otherwise destroy books. Keep your home free of food debris by practicing good sanitation, and take care to seal up any cracks and crevices around pipes and floorboards where pests could enter. These two simple protective measures could prevent your reference books from becoming dinner for a hungry insect or nesting materials for a homeless mouse!

Keep the light just right. While you definitely don't want to keep your valuable reference books in direct sunlight that might fade them, it's also not a good idea to keep them in the dark where book-eating insects and mold might thrive. Keep your books in a room primarily illuminated with artificial light, well away from windows where sunshine streams in at its brightest.

Keep them dry. Just as certain molds and insects love the dark, so too do they love the damp. Keep your reference books in a room where the air is relatively dry, Using a dehumidifier if necessary.

Keep them high. Stow your most valuable reference books up high on one of the upper shelves of your bookcase. This helps protect your reference books from accidental damages caused by spills, children, and puppy dogs.

Reference books are an investment. Take good care of them!