Re: Brittle book repair

[Annie Armour <aarmour@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

About repairing brittle books:


Here at Sewanee we used to try to repair some of our brittle books.  We
found that they were more difficult to repair because they were brittle,
and that the repairs often did more harm than they did good. For instance,
you try to replace the spine, and the endsheet tears.  You try to replace
the endsheet but it breaks the pages of the textblock, etc. etc. This means
that in some cases the books became unsalvageable--you couldn't even
photocopy them afterwards.  We also regularly see books previously repaired
with tape and other non-accepted methods, and they can be very time
consuming if not impossible to try to fix. 

We also have a LOT of unusual and brittle books in our theology collection.
 If they are brittle, need to be kept, but aren't deemed worthy of
immediate photocopying, we have several options. If they are intact, we
simply place a "This book is brittle, please handle with care--Do Not
Photocopy"  slip around the front cover and send them back to the stacks as
is.  We put the date we handled the book on the slip.  If we see the book
again, we date it again.  If it is seeing a lot of circulation, we
photocopy it.  

If a book has loose covers, or even if it is in loose sections, we also tie
the book up with linen tape.  It's very obvious to the user that the book
needs careful handling. If the book is so bad off it won't sit on the shelf
without help, and the book can't be thrown away, we generally photocopy it.
 It usually doesn't take any more time than making a box (except binding
it) and then it's essentially a new book. 

I'd recommend against trying to provide temporary repairs (other than
passive ones like tying) for those books. It's really not worth it.

Annie Armour
aarmour@xxxxxxxxxxx


At 09:56 AM 5/5/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>Here at Emory our practice concerning brittle books has been to seek
>replacements, build enclosures or to reformat through preservation
>microfilming or preservation photocopying.  We have not done any repairs
>due to concern with creating additional damage, and due to the time and
>expense involved in working with these fragile materials.
>
>Many volumes in our theology library are brittle, difficult to replace,
>and still in demand by library users.  Library staff would like for us to
>perform some book repair treatments on these volumes, sufficient to give
>perhaps 5-10 years of useability.  Heavy use is not predicted for these
>materials.
>
>Our conservator is resistant to doing "bad repairs."  As preservation
>officer I agree, but also want to offer the best possible service in a
>"real world" situation where best practice may not result in the desired
>ends.
>
>How are other libraries handling this?  Do you do any repair treatments to
>brittle volumes?  What is your rationale for repairing, or for not
>repairing these materials?  Is there a reasonable compromise solution that
>will extend the life of these materials?
>
>I'd appreciate your perspective on this problem.
>
>Thanks you,
>
>Janice Mohlhenrich
>Coordinator, Preservation Initiatives & Services
>Emory University
>Atlanta, GA
>404-727-2437
>jmohlhe@xxxxxxxxx 
>
>
>