Quietly given book to keep carefully (8)
I believe the answer is:
preserve
'keep carefully' is the definition.
'preserve' can be an answer for 'keep' (synonyms). I'm not certain of the 'carefully' bit.
'quietly given book' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'given' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'book' becomes 're-serve' (as in booking or reserving in advance).
'p'+'reserve'='PRESERVE'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for preserve that I've seen before include "defend" , "kipper?" , "Keep alive, maintain" , "Refuse to give up" , "Keep alive; jam" .)