According to Glenn Scott, ancient Americans wrote in codices (books) of paper made from the pulp and fiber of the maguey plant, the bark of the fig tree, or upon deer skin. Each was coated with lime and folded accordion fashion. Being organic material, they would, of course, deteriorate if not carefully preserved. However, deterioration was not as serious a problem as was the deliberate burning of entire native libraries by the Spanish priests who followed the conquistadors in the sixteenth century. Very few of those native books escaped, and those few that did are now in European museums. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, pp. 110, 112]
Helaman 3:15 There are [many books] and many records of every kind: Scribes were Highly Regarded in Ancient America. (1) The sculpture illustrated here represents the patron of Maya scribes. It was found at Copan, Honduras. Note he is holding a brush and a conch shell paint pot. (2) Drawing of the Tablet of the Scribe from Palenque. (3) A typical PreColumbian codex (book) usually made from pounded bark, the pulp of the maguey plant, or deerskin. The example illustrated here is the Codex Vaticanus, one of the few which have survived. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 111]