Book Repair Workshop

I made it back safely last night after making a trip down to Roanoke, VA for a 2-day workshop on book repair. After driving 3.5 hours each way, I've renewed my opinion that I don't like driving any more than I have too, especially by myself. I do NOT find it to be relaxing; I find it to be boring. 3.5 hours on a tractor is relaxing with time to think. 3.5 hours with someone else in the car, especially if they are driving, can include intelligent conversation or time to read a book. 3.5 hours stuck by myself in a car is just monotonous. Books on tape help a little, but just aren't the same. There are days that I think it would be fun to see the world by getting a job that requires travel; but then I have a trip like this and know that in those moments I am being blind, forgetful, and perhaps a bit insane.

The workshop itself was great and I'm thinking about going back down there in June for a workshop on the next level of book repair.

Each morning we had an hour or two of lecture about why book repair should be done with particular materials and how important it is (with ways to convey that message to budget-controllers). They had examples of books or items that had been repaired with scotch tape, duct tape, or other materials, showing how those repairs had actually caused more damage to the books and items. The late morning and all afternoon were spent with the instructors demonstrating a repair and then we were able to try it for ourselves. (There were two instructors for the class of about 20; each working with half of the students.)

The first morning, we found out what tools and materials we were being provided with (each student got to take home ~$100 worth of materials, thanks to an NEH grant). Each student also had 3 hardback books that we would be practicing on. Then, we mixed up some different pastes that would be used for different repairs for the rest of the class.

In the afternoon, we started out with a couple of simple repairs--how to mend a page that has been torn and how to tighten the hinges of the books. The hard part about practicing page mends was delibrately cutting or tearing the page to have something to mend. Tightening the hinges was less destructive and is very useful for helping hardback books when the textblock of the book is starting to come loose from the cover.

We ended the afternoon by replacing the endsheet of a book. This is a very useful and relatively simple repair to fix a hardback book when the paper at the very front or back of the hardback book has worn or torn and is no longer helping to hold the book together.

The second day, after the morning lesson, we spent most of the day replacing the spine of a book. The spines of books are most often damaged by light (sunlight or flourescent) and people pulling on the spine to pull the book off the shelf. The lesson included the proper way to remove a book from a shelf--push the book on either side of the desired book farther back on the shelf, then grasp the desired book by the front and back covers to remove it.

We ended the second day with a very simple repair--tipping. In otherwords, how to re-attach a page that has been removed or fallen out.

The hardest and most fascinating repairs were replacing the end page and replacing the spine. For both of these, we had to partially take the book apart in order to properly attach the new pieces. In doing so, it exposed the basic pieces of the book, allowing us to see how it was put together and what keeps it together. It reminded me of the first time I got into the guts of a computer and put my own computer together--some of the mystery of the innards and working were lost, but there was a wonder and respect added for the frailty and sturdiness.