I've never heard of a dehumidifier that makes the room dusty. That sounds like an urban legend.
Yes, a dehumidifier will remove moisture from the room. The filter needs to be taken out and cleaned, of course. (After all, you clean your house, car, apartment, clothes, dishes, your body, etc. - so why not clean the filter on occasion?)
Too, you need to have circulating air - fresh air that, on occasion, enters the room, swirls about the room like a dancer on tiptoes.
Dust the room and keep it clean.
Most paper in books is acidic and will begin to yellow with age. [After all, over time, you too will get old, wrinkled, and decrepit - just like most of us.] Storing them in closed boxes [or closed rooms without circulating, conditioned air] increases the breakdown of the paper, turning it yellow. They will eventually deteriorate over time. But you'll most likely be dead by then, so there's really nothing to worry about.
The best thing for a book collection is to control the humidity in both winter and summer.
AN AIR CONDITIONER IS YOUR FIRST MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT.
Buy book sleeves to protect your dust jacket [DJ]. A dust-jacket can add up to [approx.] 60% to the value of a COLLECTIBLE book. PROTECT THE DUST JACKET.
Do not store you books too tightly in a bookcase. They need the circulating air....
Check your book collection frequently, lovingly...
To find out the 'value' of books and the availability of titles, go here:
http://www.abebooks.com/
To find out more about preserving and book collecting in general, do a Google search. You will get THOUSANDS of results.
-----I'm a book collector, and I value my book collection. It defines me. It is a part of my life. They will always be with me until the day I die - perhaps tomorrow. Or in 14 years and 2 months.
ADDED: Your health is more important than your book collection. You need to get rid of that mold problem in your apartment before you tackle your book collection.
