Focused on Preservation

Our Design Philosophy

Our products are a smart, flexible solution for displaying bound volumes with care. Thoughtfully designed to suit a variety of settings, they help minimize the common risks that come with handling rare and delicate books.

  • The collapsible design of our Cradle makes it easy to store so that it is always on hand when you need it. Keep one handy at your desk, ready to ship to the next book fair or at each station of your reading room.

  • With its low weight and volume design, It is easy to transport. Pack it in your bag alongside your laptop for book research trips or ship them flat alongside your books to and from fairs and pop-up exhibitions.

  • Move the cradle instead of the book, minimizing handling of fragile books. This is especially useful during round-table book showings.

  • Our Cradles come in multiple opening angles so you can choose the optimal support angle for the book you’re working with. Our angle options conform to museum and library recommendations for safe opening angles.

  • Our products are built to last—just like the books they protect. They offer a reliable, elegant solution that won’t scratch or crease. Plus, they’re lightweight and collapsible, making storage and reuse easy and satisfying! It may be a small detail, but we believe thoughtful design like this plays a meaningful role in helping cultural heritage institutions meet their sustainability mandates into the future.

  • Our cradle designs are the result of thoughtful consideration of the key factors involved in safe, sustainable use, exhibition practices, and design requirements. With a pragmatic focus on the real-world contexts in which they’re used, they aim to balance and optimize the needs of both preservation and display—making it possible to protect bound volumes while allowing their beauty and significance to be fully appreciated.

  • At STILT, preservation means minimizing risks across different settings while maximizing the enjoyment of our book heritage. For archival-quality support, we recommend using single-material solutions that meet archival standards.

  • Our cradles are considered fit for purpose for short-term displays, typically lasting up to 3 or 4 months. This aligns with best practices for managing light exposure through cycles of display and storage.

    These short-term display cycles also account for the physical strain placed on a book’s spine during exhibition.

  • Our products are composite objects which allows them to be versatile. As such, we recommend using them in an area with adequate ventilation.

  • We use a conservation-grade adhesive with the lowest measured levels of acetic acid off-gassing and diminishing levels of VOCs from dried adhesives over time. To ensure safety, all our products should air out in a well-ventilated space for 30 days before being used with heritage objects.

  • We may change or adapt our products as we continue to learn about and research (new) materials and designs. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, or would like to find out more about the preservation-quality of our products.

  • Our material and design choices have been made with reference to recent guidelines for display and handling of books set out by Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC).

  • "The most important aspect is to control the angle of opening so that the binding is supported. "

    - Canadian Conservation Institute

  • New List Item

    “The need to present bound materials in an intellectually stimulating, visually appealing, and fully accessible way sometimes challenges the preservation imperative. While all aspects of exhibition development address these combined mandates, it is the humble and often unnoticed book cradle that shoulders much of the load, both metaphorically and physically.”

  • The need to present bound materials in an intellectually stimulating, visually appealing, and fully accessible way sometimes challenges the preservation imperative. While all aspects of exhibition development address these combined mandates, it is the humble and often unnoticed book cradle that shoulders much of the load, both metaphorically and physically.

    Maria Fredericks, Book Cradles for Exhibition – Access, Aesthetics and Preservation, Morgan Library & Museum, ew York.

  • "The most important aspect is to control the angle of opening so that the binding is supported. "

    - Display Methods for Books. Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)

  • "When displaying books, it is important to ensure adequate support. Almost all books are designed to be read. They are not static objects, and to prevent damage, accommodations must be made for the binding structure."

    - Display Methods for Books. Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)