Fundamentals of Book Repair

Fundamentals of
Book Repair:
Introductory Material
LYRASIS Preservation Services
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, division of Preservation and Access.

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Welcome
• This short class is intended to introduce
participants to some concepts before the
LYRASIS 2-day class, Fundamentals of
Book Repair.
– For information on registering for the class
or other Preservation classes available from
LYRASIS, please go to:
http://bit.ly/LYRClasses

Class Objectives
Introductory Material
• Learn the anatomy of the basic 20th
century book
• Introduce decision making criteria for book
repair, as not everything can (or should!)
be repaired in house.
• Understand what to look for in quality,
non-damaging supplies and materials.
• Introduce the basics of organizing and
managing a repair unit.

What can a book repair program
do for me?
• Extends the useable life and Improves the
overall condition of a collection.
• Corrects damage incurred through poor
manufacture, use, abuse and aging.
• Reduces the time materials are out of
circulation.
• Materials repaired in-house quickly can
reduce time out of circulation as opposed to
commercial binding.

What can a book repair
program do for me?
• Reduces number of books needing
commercial binding, therefore saving your
institution money.
• ($6-12 to rebind, versus a hinge tighten or
spine replacement: ranging from $0.25 - $3.00
including labor & material.)
• Sends a positive message to patrons: they
see that you care, and they will take care of
the collections material.

Preservation Activities
Preservation is a combination of
prospective (proactive) and
retrospective (reactive) activities. It
is any activity that is undertaken to
ensure the longevity of material.
You are probably doing some of
these actions and may not have
realized they are “preservation
activities.”

• Collections conservation, book repair,
conservation treatment (in-house or contract).
– Conservation is an activity performed on an item
by a trained conservator. So, conservation is when
there is physical intervention directly affecting the
material.
– Book repair is preventive because it anticipates
potential damage, so to continue providing
information to patrons. Many repairs, such as
hinge tightening, prevent more severe damage
from occurring, prolonging the need for commercial
rebinding or replacement.
Preservation Activities (continued)

• Commercial library binding
– As you prep items going to the bindery, you might do
repairs such as tip-in, page mends and endsheets.
By doing these repairs, you reduce binding costs
and assure a quality end product.
• Staff and user education
– Educate users about proper care and handling of
materials. Many institutions have food and drink
policies, proper photocopy procedures, etc.
• Reformatting
– Microfilming, digitization, preservation photocopying

• Emergency preparedness
– Do you have a disaster plan in place?
– Some resources from LYRASIS:
http://bit.ly/LYRdisasterresources
• Environmental monitoring
– Gather comprehensive data about the storage
environment and compare with building systems.
• Pest management
– Keep your building clean, take trash out daily,
segregate food and drink away from collections
area.

• SO book repair, the focus of this class, is just one
component of an overall preservation & collections
maintenance program within a library. To DO
Preservation doesn’t necessarily require that you
launch new programs. -just do current activities
differently -with an eye to their long term impact on
collections, a matter of a change in perspective.
– Library preservation programs range in size from an
individual given part time responsibility among other
duties to a full scale program with a budget, a PA, and
support staff.
• The target of a repair program should be
heavily used, non-rare, modern volumes.
– (Older volumes may be less appropriate for standard book repair,
due to intrinsic or historic value these can be further protected
with an enclosure or taken to a conservator.)

Threats to Collections
chemical and physical composition
• Items in collections are complex;
composed of organic and inorganic
materials that will deteriorate at different
rates over time. (board, cloth, leather,
glues, thread, etc)
• Design and construction of an item is vital
as well - this could be true for a book as
well as cd’s and other media.

• Examples critical to collections are temperature,
RH, light, proper storage furniture, and good
housekeeping. How do you ensure you have the
correct conditions?
• Know the appropriate environment for storage of
library and archival material:
http://bit.ly/envirospecs
• You can monitor the collections’ environment by
using environmental monitoring equipment such as
hygrothermographs or data loggers
Environment and storage

• Use and handling of a collection is
another threat – The frequent use and
poor handling of items by staff and
patrons can cause damage. Poor repair
practices, and poor handling in
transportation can also accelerate
damage.

Avoid Damaging Repair Practices
• Some of what we repair is the result of the
handiwork of well-intentioned book repair
staff of the past. We want to prevent
future book repair staff from having to
correct problems we cause today. We
can do this by following a few simple
principles:

Avoid Damaging Repair Practices
• Do not apply a treatment greater or weaker than
the problem. Use mending materials that
approximate the strength and character of the item
to be repaired. A too strong repair will cause more
breakage in other areas. Too weak will ensure the
item comes back to the repair unit, therefore wasting
time and resources.
• Use only non-damaging supplies and materials in
repair such as alkaline papers, pH neutral
adhesives, and inert plastics.

The Evils of Pressure - Sensitive
Tape
• Tape is composed of two parts: the carrier (some type
of plastic, paper or cloth) and the adhesive (commonly
rubber or acrylic).
• Cold flow is a characteristic of pressure sensitive tapes.
This means the adhesive tends to flow beyond edges of
the carrier. It attracts dust as the edges become sticky,
and can cause materials in proximity to stick together.

Tape
• Damaging, non-permanent materials- Most plastics
degrade and cause damage, such as “scotch tape” that will
shrink and yellow as it ages. Eventually the backing will
peel off and you are left with sticky, brown tape residue.
This is very difficult to remove without solvents which could
be harmful to paper. In the past most tapes had a rubber
based adhesive. Rubber adhesives are particularly
damaging (masking tapes are still rubber). Rubber
adhesives give off acids as they degrade that break down
paper, they discolor and cause staining. Today most
adhesives are acrylic. Acrylic based adhesives tend to be
more stable, however, composition varies widely, and they
are not reversible without chemicals.

Tape
• Tape DOES NOT repair structural problems.
When a spine is damaged it often means the
internal hinge is damaged, placing tape on the
spine doesn’t do anything, except inhibit
movement and flexibility of the spine, and cause
breakage in other areas.
• It is very difficult to remove once applied, and
can cause permanent damage.

Tape
• Exception: Pressure sensitive tapes are
easy to use and quick. The are “OK” for
items regularly superseded, outdated and
discarded. However, be aware that these
repairs will not hold up to heavy use.

Anatomy of a book
• To understand how to properly repair a
book, it is important to understand all the
book parts and pieces.
• Knowledge of book construction is essential
to understanding how mishandling and poor
repairs affects the physical operation of a
book.
– Let’s take a look into the anatomy of a book
and how it is constructed…

BookStructure
• The front and
back covers
protect the
textblock. They
are usually
made of heavy
book board or
card stock in
the case of
“softbacks” (i.e.
paperbacks).

BookStructure
• The spine of the
book cover
protects the
spine of the
textblock.

BookStructure • The joint area, (also
known as the hinge
or groove) is the
interior or exterior
point on a book
where the cover
meets the spine.
Inside, it's where the
flyleaf (front free
endpaper) meets the
pastedown (the
endpaper which is
pasted to the inside
cover of the book).

Book Structure
• The top edge
of the boards,
spine, and text
block when a
book is upright
on a shelf is
the head.

Book Structure • The unbound
edge of the
book's pages,
opposite the
spine. Older
books and
special editions
may have gilded
(gold) or painted
fore-edges. When
present, tabs or a
thumb index are
affixed to the
fore-edge.

Book Structure
• The bottom
edge of the
boards, spine,
and text block
that the book
rests on when
it is sitting
upright on a
shelf is the tail.

Book Structure
• Endpapers are
found at the
very front and
back of the
book. They
play a critical
part in holding
the textblock
inside the
case.

Book Structure
• Pastedown–
the part of the
endsheet/end
paper that is
glued to the
inside cover.

Book Structure
• Fly leaf –the
loose part of
the endsheet
opposite the
pastedown
connected to
the textblock.

Book Structure
• Hinge – is the
inner margin of
the outside
joint/groove.
This internal
area closest to
the spine is also
called the
“gutter” of the
book when
referring to the
inner textblock.

Book Structure
• Headcap- the
upper portion
of the spine.

Book Structure
• Headband- a
decorative
ribbon /
cording used
at the head
and tail of the
spine

BookStructureBefore the textblock and case are pasted together, this is what you would see.
(turn-in)
• Turn-in:
Book cloth
that forms
the cover
that is
wrapped
around the
inner part of
the boards.

(turn-in)
• The inlay
forms the
spine of the
case can be
soft paper
or hard
cover board
material.

(turn-in)
• The board
forms the
covers of
the
bookcase-
provides
stiffness or
rigidity for
hardcover
books.

(turn-in)
• Textblock-
the sewn
or glued
grouping
of pages.

(turn-in)
• The super is
attached to
the spine of
the book and
helps to
attach the
textblock to
the case. The
spine lining
reinforces the
attachment of
the super.

• It is important to note that the only thing that holds a
textblock in the covers in contemporary books is the
pastedown part of the endsheet, and the super-
(sometimes very weak and cheap, and sometimes
non-existent!). These two connections hold the
weight of the text block into the case.
• This is why proper shelving and care for books is so
important. If materials are not cared for properly they
can easily break and tear in these areas!

BookStructure • Bindings
Sewn binding
Some books are sewn thru
the groupings of folded
sheets, called signatures.
In sewn bindings, you
should be able to visibly see
the signatures, and you will
find thread in the center of
each signature.

BookStructure • Bindings
Other books are not sewn and
have glued bindings. Commonly
referred to as “double fan”, a
gathering of loose pages are run
over a roller ("fanning" the pages)
to apply a thin layer of glue to
each page edge. This is then
done in the opposite direction so
a small amount of glue adheres
the pages together at the spine.
However, certain types of paper
do not hold adhesive well, and
with wear and tear, the pages
can come loose.
Glued binding

Identification of material
There are two common ways to identify collections that may
be in need of repair. Don’t go through stacks item by item!
• Use
• Circulation, new acquisitions, shelvers,
use for exhibits, gifts.
• Survey
• Identify a portion of the collection to focus
on (reference collection or reserves, for
instance. They get heavy use, but do not
circulate).

Consider two levels of decision making.
• Level 1 decisions are made by circulation staff
as returned books are checked in. Books that
are damaged are routed to preservation for
repair.
• Level 2 decisions (which repair) or other
appropriate options are made by preservation
staff, curators or subject specialists.

• The key here is that the person with the
knowledge of the in-house skill level should be
making the final decision. If someone wants a
repair done and it is outside your training and
skill level, DON’T DO IT. You could cause more
harm than good. Protect the material with an
enclosure or send to commercial bindery or a
conservator, depending on the material.

Decision-making
• Collection significance- How important is the
item to the collection?
• Patterns of use- How is the material used?
• Condition of the item- Is the book brittle? Is
the structure stable? If the material is not
stable, DO NOT attempt to repair it.
• Is the item worth the staff time and money?
Calculate the value of the item and the time it
would take for you to repair it. Is it worth it?

The Universe of Options
• Repair: is it a torn page or something you have
the knowledge to repair?
• Reformat: for access of brittle material or
damaged beyond repair.
– microfilm, preservation photocopy, digitization
• Re-house: build an enclosure for items outside of
repair skills or for items that might cost too much
money to repair or rebind.
?? ?
???

The Universe of Options
• Commercial bind: for heavily used materials in
good shape.
• Return to shelf as is: some materials have slight
damage that could circulate more times before
repair.
• Purchase another copy: say you have a
damaged copy of a popular novel…
• Transfer to limited access: example: an out of
print art book to prevent from damage- make it
non-circulating, used only in-house.

Repair Cost Estimates
REPAIR Materials Labor* Time* Total
Cost
Hinge Tightening N/A N/A 5 min. $.50
Endsheet $.15 $2.55 15 min. $2.70
Spine Repl. $.11 $5.10 30 min. $5.21
Recase-Orig. Cover $.28 $7.65 45 min. $7.93
Phase Box $3.69 $5.10 30 min. $8.75
Wrapper $1.68 $2.55 15 min. $4.23
Drop Spine Box $3.00 $20.00 2 hrs. $23.00
* Time based on batch production * Labor estimated at $10/hour
* Cost is per item and excludes equipment
• You have to compute your own costs according to your institutions labor costs,
overhead, etc. These costs are based upon batch processing and assumed
proficiency. At first, it may take you a lot longer to complete repairs.

The maze of terminology
• “Archival quality”
• “Acid-free”
• “Alkaline buffered”
• “Lignin” and “lignin-free”
• “Permanent/durable”

ANSI / NISO Z39.48
Standard for Permanent Paper
–pH
–Alkaline reserve
–Tear resistance
–Lignin content

Supplies
• Adhesives
- PVA (polyvinyl acetate)
- Paste (wheat or rice starch)
- Methyl cellulose
• Cloth
- Aqueous or acrylic coated
- Conservation buckram
- Starch filled

Supplies
• Paper
– Alkaline-buffered and pH neutral
– Lignin-free
• Plastics
– Use polyester, polyethylene, or
polypropylene
– (Mylar, Mellinex, Tyvek, or Reemay)
PVC’sACIDS

Implementing a Book Repair
Program
• Justify the book repair operation.
• Acquire space, equipment, and supplies.
• Develop job descriptions and show where
book repair fits within the organization.
• Decision-making.
• Establish workflow.

Repair Unit
• How will the material move through the
workflow? Focus on identification of material,
sorting of material, determining treatment
options, and keeping statistics— Don’t take
material if you don’t have time to repair them!
Use chart and memos to convey your workflow
Use flags to help route material from person to
person and to help determine where it has
been, where it is going, where it should end up-
it--OHD Show-flags in pkt- who sent it and
where it should be returned, who did the repair

Repair Unit
• How will the damaged material be organized? Sort by
receipt date or type of repair or size on proper
shelving.This makes it easier for batch work.
• Who will perform the standardized repair techniques?
know the strengths of your technicians or your workers
--depends on yourturnaround time goals, the size of your
backlog, the complexity of the repairs done in the unit,
Who is better at certain techniques. Train and provide
adequate equipment and supplies,
for example precut materials or construct jigs to aid in
repairs
• Repair staff need to know what they should not try to fix.
Clear decision is needed about who decides what to
repair in-house, what not to.

Repair Unit
• What type of statistics will you keep?
• Neededto gauge productivity, to re-affirm value of the
work being done to the administration, to justify the need
for further staff, equipment, materials
• Some gather by type of treatment, but is difficult to
classify treatment, some items receive more than one;
Some gather by number of items treated, but if do many
types of repairs, it is difficult to indicate complexity of
repairs and how much repair is given to any single item.
Combination of both is good, simplicity is best. There are
some examples in your handout of statistic sheets.

Space: Three Basic Needs
• Adequate space for work and storage
– Space should be dedicated and in a secure
area
• Light : Daylight or incandescent
– Task lighting is very helpful and reduces eye
strain
• Water and a sink
– Water for cleaning bushes and surfaces and
distilled water for making glue and tearing
paper

Book repair station layout
• The following pictures illustrate a few book
repair stations and tools at different
institutions.
– Note The amount of space per person. Ideally 5-
6 foot length and 2-3 foot depth.
– Also note:
• Task lighting
• Use of drawers and shelving to hold necessary materials
• Clean smooth work surfaces
• Jars or cans to hold tools
• Pegboard to hold rulers, Japanese paper, and other small items

Custom built work stations with pegboard wall

Storage of endsheets, spines, and bookcloth

Equipment and Tools
• We can discuss this more in class, but
some typical equipment would be
• Board shears or cutter
• There can be some less expensive, safe solutions
than having to buy an expensive cutter.
• Presses
• Can be a worthy investment if you begin working in
large batches.
• Hand tools
• Ideally, everyone will have their own set. Buy quality
materials and many tools will be a one-time
purchase.

Paper cutter, Kutrimmer brand ($$$)

Louet cutting guide (from Talas) ($$)

Cutting mats, straight edge, and bar clamps ($)

Contact Information
Preservation Services
800-999-8558
preservation@lyrasis.org

Fundamentals of Book Repair

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