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://www.lyrasis.org/Classes-and-Events.aspx
Search by class name or topic.

Class Objectives Introductory Material
Learn the anatomy of the basic 20 th 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://www.lyrasis.org/Preservation/Disaster-Resources.aspx
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://www.lyrasis.org/Preservation/Resources%20and%20Publications/Environmental%20Specifications.aspx
You can monitor the collections’ environment by using environmental monitoring equipment such as hygrothermographs or data loggers
Threats to Collections Environment and storage

Threats to Collections
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.

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 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.

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…

Book Structure
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).

Book Structure
The spine of the book cover protects the spine of the textblock.

Book Structure
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/endpaper 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

Book Structure Before 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.

The inlay forms the spine of the case can be soft paper or hard cover board material.

The board forms the covers of the bookcase- provides stiffness or rigidity for hardcover books.

Textblock- the sewn or glued grouping of pages.

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!

Book Structure
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.

Book Structure
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
* 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.

Supplies
Make sure you are using appropriate supplies for enclosures and storage
Some vendors use terms that have no real meaning—meant to make you think products are high quality when they may or may not be
When in doubt, call up supplier and ask questions

Supplies
Beware of vague terms such as “Archival quality”, “Acid-free”, and “Photo-safe”.
these terms can be used appropriately in association with a standard and from a reputable vendor.
Some better terms are:
“ Lignin” and “lig-free” paper
Photograph Activity Test (PAT)
ANSI/NISO Z39.48 standard for permanent paper

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

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

Implementing a Book Repair Program
Acquire space, equipment, and supplies.
Develop job descriptions and show where book repair fits within the organization.
Compare costs of repair (listed earlier) to costs of commercial binding or replacement—use the savings to help justify the need for a program
Decision-making and workflow.
Organization charts, budgets with equipment, and supply costs. Workflow or selection for book repair; who will be involved? What is required from other people and other departments (cataloging, library binding)?

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, who sent it, where it should be returned, and 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 your turnaround 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.
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?
Needed to 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.

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

Cube work station

Desk work station

Storage of endsheets, spines, and bookcloth

Storage of rolled 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.

Board shear ($$$$)

Paper cutter, Kutrimmer brand ($$$)

Louet cutting guide (from Talas) ($$)

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

A cast iron book press

Contact Information
Preservation Services
1438 West Peachtree St. NW, Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
800-999-8558
[email_address]

Fundamentals of Book Repair

by LYRASIS on Aug 02, 2010

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