Action for Libraries
Book Repair Workshop Series Opens at BCR this Spring
By Regan W. Harper
Want to get more life out of your circulating collection? Need to keep items circulating longer? Come learn how to patch up those dog-eared items and give them one more season of use.
BCR is introducing a spring Book Repair series of workshops at our Aurora offices. This three-part, hands-on series guides learners through the many processes of book repair, from simple page repair and end sheet replacement to resewing a broken textblock and spine replacement.
Each of the three two-day workshops focuses on a different level of book repair and gives hands-on, practical experience in each of the techniques covered. Attend all three or choose the level that best suits your needs.
- Basic: Designed to provide information and hands-on experience in basic book and paper repair for general (non-rare) library collections. Techniques covered include: surface cleaning and paper repair, attaching loose papers, paperback reinforcement, endsheet replacement and more.
- Intermediate: Designed to cover more complex repairs on books and paper. Techniques covered include complex paper repair, spine replacement corner repair, enclosures, sewing in loose signatures, recasing a book in its original cover and more. Also, learn how to set up a repair unit in your own library.
- Advanced: Designed to walk participants through advanced repairs on books. Techniques covered include: sewing on end sheets, resewing a broken text block, repairing foldouts in books, flattening rolled or folded items, spine replacement, enclosures and more.
All three workshops not only give hands-on practice of valuable book and paper repair skills, but also introduce students to book repair triage: making treatment decisions, knowing the options, learning what supplies are needed for each type of repair procedure, and knowing when an item needs the skills of a professional conservationist.
All three workshops in this series are conducted by Rebecca Elder, a book and paper conservator in private practice in Austin, Texas, and a consulting instructor for the Imaging and Preservation Service of the Amigos Library Services Inc. She received her training from the Preservation and Conservation Studies program of the School of Information at the University of Texas in Austin and has worked at the Harvard College Libraries, the Center for American History, and the Benson Latin American History Collection. It is in her capacity as instructor for Amigos Library Services that Elder will be working with BCR.
All three workshops are currently scheduled at the BCR offices in Aurora, Colorado, but we would love to take the series on the road. Would you like to have book repair training in a location closer to your home? If you are interested in having training in your area, contact Regan Harper at BCR (rharper@bcr.org). If you would like to be a host site for Book Repair training, we would love to hear from you.
