And Basic Book Repair for Libraries is... Filled!

Thanks to all of you who have already registered for the 2016 OLA SSD Conference in Wilsonville, "Coming to a Crossroads: Intersecting Roles in Library Service and Community"! If you can believe it, the Basic Book Repair for Libraries workshop has already filled up and we've started a waitlist.

Just a reminder to those who haven't heard, there's a discount for early registration. Head to our registration page by June 10th to snag our Early Bird discount off the already-reasonable fee. Check here for more information on the conference particulars as well as what other fantastic sessions await you on July 17th!

Book Repair Roadshow: Port Orford, Oregon

"Basic Book Repair for Libraries" took the show on the road last week from Portland State University Library to the Port Orford Public Library. It's been a few years since Kris Kern and I roamed the state with a car full of mending tools, polyvinyl acetate, acid-free paper, and Kennett bookcloth. The workshop has been going steady at both the OLA pre-conference in the spring and the Support Staff Division conference in the summer, and both Kris and I have been teaching in different library education programs. But it had been a while since the book repair caravan rolled out of the Willamette Valley!

Librarians and staff from Curry and Coos Counties, from Brookings to Coos Bay, from Gold Beach to Agness, met in Port Orford on June 19 for a day of book conservation, starting with the basics of bookbinding adhesive and the properties of paper, and working our way up to a full spine repair and the wonderful "one on, two off" hollow tube that rejoins text blocks to their cases.

I always learn something about book care myself in every class. Coming from a library that does not generally preserve dust jackets for hardcovers, I'll mention the great difference dust jackets, protected by mylar covers, can make to the life of a well-read hardcover. While my big job at the repair table is spine replacement of hardcovers, most of the books folks brought along were still intact on the outside, thanks to their dust jackets. The trouble was split bindings and pages falling out! Most of the time, bindings of adhesive-bound hardcovers bust because the adhesive holding them together just wasn't so good in the first place, but some strain is also placed on bindings from dust jackets that are attached very tightly to their covers. A little "ease" is recommended when taping jackets on, to ease stress on the spine!

Many thanks to all who came out to spend the day with me fixing books on the southern coast! And especial thanks to the directors of the Curry and the Port Orford Public Libraries who invited me to travel south, made my journey possible, and gave the workshop a perfect space, and to Rea Andrew with the Support Staff Division who put together our toolkits.

Happy Summer Solstice, and I look forward to seeing everyone at the workshop at the SSD Conference at Newport in about a month. More time by the sea? Yes please!

Coquille Point, Bandon, Oregon. June 19, 2015

Ancient book repair techniques

Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Patr.41, fol. 69r. Detail.

Have you seen the medieval book repair posts over at Colossal?  There are also some pretty great doodles and marginalia from days of old.   They were pretty creative working around holes and worn spots, even including what looks like crochet and embroidery.  I'm not sure how useful those repair techniques would work in the modern world in a public library setting.  What would the patrons think?

Library Book Mending Resources

Did you know about these resources for book mending?  This is but a small collection of the massive amounts of information and tutorials you can find online:

Association for Library Collections & Technical Services webinar
This is a FREE webinar originally presented on 9/14/11 by Peter D. Verheyen and Marianne Hanley.

"Participants will become familiar with several types of basic repairs for bound circulating collections materials in school, public, and academic libraries. Tip-ins and basic page repairs, hinge tightening, and a variety of spine repairs are covered. Techniques are illustrated and demonstrated with text, images, and video. Links to other resources are provided. Repairs and conservation treatments on rare and special collections materials are NOT discussed."

Simple Techniques for the Maintenance and Repair of Books This is an online manual from Gaylord called Bookcraft, which they've published since 1924.  This version is copyrighted 1996.  In it they cover typical repairs of both the textblock and covers, and talk about cleaning and maintenance.

Tippacanoe County Public Library Book Care and Repair
TCPL has collected a good list of a variety of internet resources on book repairs. They have separated out the list into Specific Situations & Repairs, General Book Care, and Equipment and Supplies.  They also recommend the Syracuse University Library's youtube channel, which is the next link in this list.

Syracuse University Library Preservation's youtube channel 
There are video tutorials about repairs, as well as about books in general and some longer lectures.

Demco Madison's youtube channel
This is a playlist that includes 12 videos from Demco that details simple repairs such as repairing damaged pages, hinges, covers and spines.


Conservation Book Repair: A training manual by Artemis BonaDea
A book repair manual published by Alaska State Library which is downloadable as a whole or chapter by chapter for free.  It is a culmination of presentation methods and handouts developed in workshops given by Artemis BonaDea.

Simple Book Repair Manual
A completely web-based book about mending and repair, the table of contents is a pull-down menu which takes you to each chapter topic.  There is no download time and it's completely free.

"The web version of the Simple Book Repair Manual was created by members of Preservation Services, Dartmouth College Library. "

Do you have any favorite online book repair resources?  Let us know in the comments below.