Notes for Elementary Book Repair Workshops — Nov. 4 & 9, 2011
Don’t be overwhelmed by book repair
A lot of the instructions about book repair are prepared by and for professional archivists, university librarians, etc. They have tested and proven methods for making all sorts of repairs, but many of these repairs are time consuming and tedious. They undertake these repairs on rare and valuable books that need to be preserved or restored, so they can’t afford to take shortcuts or make mistakes. Also, because of the time and expertise involved in these repairs, it is not cost effective for them to undertake these types of repair methods for books that can be replaced at reasonable costs.
However, we are looking for quick repairs that will keep a book going for a few more circulations before it needs to be weeded, so we have the liberty of doing some quick and aggressive repairs that you would never undertake with a rare and valuable book.
Here’s an example of what appears to be a high school student fixing a book without following all the “rules”:
Don’t be afraid to try things and experiment
Definitely try things that you think might work.
I’m not sure if I recommend that you try this, though.
Book Repair Agenda (November 2011)