Which plot element provides background information?

To improve your understanding of an informational text, the question you should ask yourself as you read is: do i agree with what the author says in this text? who assigned me to read this text? what details in the text are unclear to me? what other texts has this author written?

Even the insistent cough of the woman next to him wasn't enough to draw his eyes away from the tiny type of the ancient book its pages were brittle and felt like they could crumble at the slightest disturbance he noticed the musty odor if each page as he carefully it over.

Can someone explain this to me clearly plz