The sound a page made

An original narrative about an invented archive visit.

The librarian laid the diary on a padded support. Its pages were thin, and the edges had curled towards one another. When I reached to flatten a corner, she stopped me with a quiet word. The page could be read without being pressed flat.

She called the paper fragile. It had survived for a long time, but survival was not the same as strength. A small tear could travel farther if the sheet was pulled. We adjusted the light instead of forcing the page into a new position. I could see the handwriting clearly, and the corner remained as we had found it.

In this passage, explain the meaning of “fragile”.