Introduction on Book Conservation 101: History of Book Binding/Repair

Recasing or rebinding may be required when there is extensive structural failure, resulting the partial or total detachment of the textblock from the cover.

1. Criteria for Recasing: If the sewing or other leaf attachment is intact, but the connection between the cover boards and the textblock is broken (torn super, broken cords, etc.), then the item can be recased.  Minor areas of broken sewing can be reinforced to avoid rebinding.

2. Criteria for Rebinding:  Any book with broken sewing or broken sewing supports may be a candidate for rebinding.  Adhesive bound books with multiple (30 pages or more) require rebinding. In-house binding is preferred for any “rushed” items, in order to better meet patron needs.  Otherwise, commercial rebinding may be more cost effective for circulating books. 
3. Criteria for endsheet repair: Endsheets are replaced when they are torn severely (more than 20% of the length of the hinge) and the book is more than one inch thick (approx. 2.5 cm). Endsheets are glued for small books and sewn for oversized books of any thickness. Sewing is optional for smaller books and is done at the conservator’s discretion.  If the super, cords, or binding tapes are damaged, then the structural repair must be performed first, sometimes resulting in removal and replacement of the endsheets.

Digitization for preservation is a concept that comes from the traditional field of analog preservation and conservation. In the 1990s a huge number of brittle books and newspapers were microfilmed with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and other grant programs. The intent was to preserve their information content and to make that content accessible without additional damage to fragile originals, but the effect was to limit access to only the most dedicated researchers.

Source: Dartmouth Libraries. (2019). A Simple Book Repair Manual. Dartmouth Libraries. https://www.dartmouth.edu/library/preservation/repair/index.html