Repairing edges of books

I am seeking information on how other libraries repair items in their
circulating collections.  Specifically, what, if anything, do you do for
ragged/very worn book board edges? The books are generally sound or have
been repaired enough to circulate again but the book cloth along the
board edges and corners is in very bad shape.  I have spoken with
several library vendors about the problem and am actively seeking a
method or product that will help solve our problem.

We have tried to tape edges which turned out to be very time consuming
and the pre-glued tape is raised just enough to roll off again after a
few more circulations.  This type of tape also has a modest shelf life
of about 7 years.  We also tried to use commercially available corners.
This is OK for corners still squared enough to attach to but we have
several others have their corners nearly worn away.

Just gluing the edges makes very sharp places, still looks bad, and can
scratch/irritate users.

Replacing the boards and/or the book cloth is both too costly and time
consuming.  This is the problem with most of the methods that I have
used or seen.

What methods have you used that are effective and meet our
criteria of not too time consuming and costly?

Claudia Stall
Head, Collection Preservation Unit
San Diego State University Library
Collection Preservation Unit
San Diego, CA  92182-0511.
619-594-2591

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:62
                Distributed: Thursday, February 24, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-62-005
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