Moving with Books

[u/Hopeful-Sweep]

I am considering relocating to Hawaii this year. One issue I have is that I love books. I would love to ship part of my collection over, but I have been researching and see that dealing with mold is common. Is it a huge risk to bring my book treasures over? Are there any good used bookstores on the Big Island? Thanks!

[u/lanclos]

Depends where you're going to be. We don't have many books, but they all experienced a bit of spotting from being on the shelf; then, with the wet summer we've had, everything that could get mold on it, did. Had to buy a dehumidifier.

As far as stores go, Kona Bay Books used to be a thing. Emphasis on "used to". Thrift stores are now the only places I see second-hand books on the big island.

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/lanclos]

Okay good to know!! Will definitely get a dehumidifier

[u/Pitiful-Comedian4248 → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

Keep in mind running a dehumidifier is sort of like running a space heater with the windows open in a cold weather place. You really want solar if you're going to run one a lot due to the cost of electricity.

I had to throw out a relatives entire library due to the mildew. It depends on location though. Some places are just too wet for paper products. leather gets gross too.

The library system here is statewide, so you can request things from any library and they have pressreader and libby too.

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/Pitiful-Comedian4248]

Hilo area, so probably would have issues? I may just have to leave my books with family, it might be too risky. :(

[u/Pitiful-Comedian4248 → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

Yea do you need to bring them ? personally I would leave behind if you could, and revisit after paying electric bills, assessing the space etc. Media mail is cheap to ship if you decide later to bring them.

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/Pitiful-Comedian4248]

Yeah we are big readers and we use a ton of books in our homeschool. But we have family in California so that’s probably what we will do.

[u/Vaugeresponse → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

I do not think some of our fellow redditors understand. I left 67 boxes of books with my daughter on the mainland. I mis my books but it will not work on the Hilo side unless you build a dedicated library with climate control. If you are coming to Hilo side I suggest leaving your books and going digital. Sorry

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/Vaugeresponse]

Yeah it’s a little devastating. I might just bring a small collection and keep them in a small controlled cabinet, leaving behind any that can’t be easily replaced.

[u/sotiredwontquit → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

We are in Puna. Our wood furniture grew mold. Our shoes grew mold. We can’t afford HVAC for the whole house, so now we have a dehumidifier running in each closet. But those are energy hogs and on cloudy days we have to unplug them overnight so we don’t kill our batteries. I wouldn’t bring your books to Hilo unless you have whole-house A/C. And I wouldn’t run A/C for a whole house unless I was generating my own solar power. Besides- it defeats the point of living in the tropics. I like the humidity. I just don’t know what to do about my mom’s wood furniture.

[u/purpleyam5 → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

I recently got into reading and on humid days they ripple… I’m thinking of getting those humidity bucket thingies they have at Home Depot since a dehumidifier isnt in the budget right now.

[u/mothandravenstudio]

Mine are fine even in Puna district, but caveat: We are at only 500 feet in a blue hole, and we have minisplits with solar which dries the house out significantly.

[u/webrender]

youll need some kind of dehumidifying solution. this can be as simple as a bookshelf with doors that you regularly refresh damprid bags/canisters to absorb the moisture.

we used to have clothes that we didnt wear super often that would constantly get musty or mildewy and the damprid bags solved that issue for us.

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/webrender]

So helpful, thanks

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/webrender]

How long would you say a damprid bag lasts?

[u/webrender → u/Hopeful-Sweep]

we replace ours monthly and that seems to do the trick. costco sells a 4 pack for $15.

[u/Hopeful-Sweep → u/webrender]

Thanks so much!

[u/SlothOctopus]

I have a pretty good size library (hundreds of books maybe close to a thousand). I’m on the east side but close to the ocean. I have my books in an air conditioned room and have never had a problem, but I keep it between 65-70 and the ac acts as a dehumidifier too. My oldest book is from the 1700s and is bound in leather. It’s never had any issues.

On the other hand My parents live at 1600 feet and they do occasionally have mold issue on book covers but they don’t care to much and just occasionally spray the whole shelf with a vinegar spray.

There are a few book stores in Hilo. Three I think and they carry a mix of used and new stuff.

[u/dreaminginteal]

I've been to a couple of garage sales over on Hilo side picking up books. Mold was sometimes an issue, but rarely a bad one. The worst parts so far were sun fading on the covers of a few books.

The used book store in Kona closed down last year. There are at least a couple around the downtown area of Hilo. I figure they probably have more of a market there due to the student population.

BTW, I'm pretty happy with the Hawaii library system! They have a pretty decent selection if you include inter-library stuff, as long as you're patient. Some books show up in a day or two, some take rather longer. Especially ones that are popular for one reason or another, like when a new book in a series has just been released the rest of them are suddenly more in demand...

[u/Odd-Sail-1694]

Im in volcano and haven’t had any issues with mold yet thankfully (I’ve been there 6 months). I know a family member in Mountain View has bigger mold issues but I think it is more humid there.

I found an amazing used bookstore in downtown Hilo called Big Island BookBuyers. The owner is so sweet and helpful. Great place!