I leave them all in. I want the books in as close to original condition as possible. I have many covers that I bought with the matches & staple removed. I consider them to be far inferior to the full books. I keep the matches & binders in a metal box stored on metal shelves. I'm a gambler and have never seen a match book catch on fire inside in a metal box. There wouldn't be enough oxygen in there to ignite or burn very long if they did, which they won't!!!