The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mending and Repair of Books, by Margaret Wright Brown, et al

Title: Mending and Repair of Books

Author: Margaret Wright Brown

Release Date: March 7, 2012 [eBook #39075]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MENDING AND REPAIR OF BOOKS***

E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Ernest Schaal,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
from page images generously made available by
Internet Archive
(http://www.archive.org)

Mending and Repair
of Books

compiled by

MARGARET WRIGHT BROWN

FOURTH EDITION

revised by

GERTRUDE STILES

Supervisor of Binding, Cleveland Public Library

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PUBLISHING BOARD

CHICAGO

1921

CONTENTS

Page

Introductory Note 7

When to Bind or When to Mend 9

The Mending Table: Its Supplies 11

Paste, the Mending Medium 12

Ways to Mend 13

Ways to Clean 19

Binding Record 21

Temporary Binders 23

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

THE task of mending demands so much of the time and energy of library workers and is a factor of such economic importance in every public library that it cannot be put aside as incidental.

It is hoped that these suggestions may give definite aid in this homely task which is ever present in all libraries.

No attempt has been made to give instruction in the advanced processes of mending, as this at once encroaches on the art of binding.

The best mending can be done only where an acquaintance with the construction of the book has been acquired through a study of the various processes of binding. Librarians are urged to visit binderies to see the various processes; and to study the art of binding under personal instruction of experienced binders whenever this is feasible.

It is not probable that any one librarian will use all of the processes suggested, and some of these will apply only to exceptional cases; but the directions cover diversified conditions in order that the librarian may have the necessary information whenever required.

The experienced mender. This handbook has not been prepared for the use of the larger libraries where a bindery is a part of the equipment, or where there are members of the staff trained in binding and hence experienced menders.

The inexperienced mender. The purpose of this handbook is to give practical aid and guidance to librarians who are entirely inexperienced in the work of mending and repair of books and whose knowledge must be gained through self-instruction.

The compilers have drawn upon many sources and have endeavored to make available the suggestions received and methods used by many librarians and practical binders, and grateful acknowledgment is herewith made for the co-operation and helpful suggestions received from them.

Mending and Repair of Books

WHEN TO BIND OR WHEN
TO MEND

THE question when to bind or when to mend is of daily recurrence, and a decision must be made upon the examination of every circulating book returned, before placing it on the shelves. The answer will depend largely on the policy of the library regarding the binding question.

No library can afford to circulate shabby, soiled or ragged books, because:

(1) From an economic standpoint, a book's ultimate usefulness, or life, is materially shortened by neglect to bind at first sign of need.

(2) When books are given proper care by the library, standards are set which insure a like treatment on the part of the reading public.

(3) The reading public has a right to expect that its books shall be clean and whole, and that its property shall be in proper condition for satisfactory use.

WHEN TO BIND

When the stitches break and a section or a few leaves fall out, the book should be sent to the bindery immediately.

This is happening daily with the original publishers' bindings. If the book is removed from the shelves the librarian is at once confronted by the problem of being unable to answer the unceasing cry for the last new novel, as it is the fiction which is usually in this condition. However, if the book is allowed to circulate a few more times there are "pages missing" and the book has become valueless.

No book should be rebound with pages missing.

When the stitches have not broken, but either a few or all the sections have become loose:

There is no excuse for the librarian to leave upon her shelves or permit to circulate books that are held together only by the slender threads with which they are sewed and threatening at any moment to come tumbling forth from the cover. Such books speak in no uncertain terms for rebinding or permanent withdrawal from the shelves.