CONSERVATION TIPS & TRICKS
BY: MADELINE SMOLARZ
I really love
books, and I really love to read...
...so you will not be surprised to learn that when I heard
about a volunteering opportunity at the Hart House Library, I couldn’t reply
fast enough. It has been a wonderful experience thus far – who wouldn’t want to
decompress among stacks of beautiful old books in one of the most charming
silent study spaces on campus for three hours every week? As an added bonus,
the Library’s student curator arranged a Book Repair Workshop for volunteers
during the afternoon of November 1st, which I was able to attend.
 |
| An undated archival photo of the Hart House Library. The doors and shelves still look the same. Source. |
As you may already be aware, libraries and museums converge
in many ways (an overview of which is definitely beyond the scope of this article).
Therefore, I thought it would be an excellent idea to share what was covered in
the workshop to give you all a glimpse into what conservation looks like when an artefact in your care happens to be a book.
Lauren Williams, a second-year LIS student from the iSchool
in the Book History and Print Culture concentration who also has a background
in book binding, led our group through several conservation and repair
techniques in order to make some of the older books in the Library's collection more accessible to users while also maintaining
their integrity. She explained that there has been a shift in the world of
book repair from completely rebinding damaged books to making as few changes as
possible, which is what we tried to achieve during the workshop.
 |
| The basic anatomy of a book. Source. (for both photos) |
Handling Books
Do NOT grab the headband / head of the spine. The proper method is to pinch the sides
of the book’s spine when you are pulling it out from a shelf. Also, do not lay
it flat and flip the top cover open, which puts a lot of pressure on the front
cover’s joint and the book spine. Instead, open both sides and fan out the
pages. To stabilize particularly old books when you don’t have a small fortune to
spend on triangular supports, fold a clean towel in half, then roll both of the
short edges inwards to support the book’s covers.
Tying Books
When books are sitting on shelves, those with heavy text
blocks may experience a pulling away from the spine starting at the head and
the top of the joints. The spine will then start to peel away. To help stabilize them, you can use thick string or
archival tape (which is not sticky, despite its misleading name). A book should not be tied too tight and
the knot should be made at the top edge of the book, or a divot will appear over the years in
the book’s cover. To get the right length of string, measure along the book’s
long side twice, its short side twice, add a few more centimetres, and then
combine those numbers together.
 |
| My repair partner in the process of tying a book with archival tape. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz. |
Taping Loose Pages
For the love of all that is literary, set aside your Scotch
tape – you want to use acid-free document repair tape for this. Use only just enough tape so that you are adding as little width as possible to the text
block to avoid unnecessarily increasing the pressure on the spine. Measure and
cut an appropriate length of tape. Also, only put tape along one side of the
page, not both.
Hollow vs. Flat Spines: To Glue or Not To Glue?
There are two types of spines: hollow and flat. You cannot
glue books with hollow spines because it will work against how the book is
supposed to open and cause more damage, so these should be tied or placed in a
book shoe (which will be discussed below. For flat spine books, there are three kinds of glue that can be
used:
1. Wheat / rice paste – has less binding agents and is
therefore a weaker glue
2. “Mix” – a mixture that is ½ methyl cellulose and ½ white
glue and creates a stronger bond
3. Non-acidic white glue / “PVA” – this is the strongest
possible glue and is used for big jobs
 |
| Applying "mix" to a damaged flat spine. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz. |
 |
| Smoothing out bubbles with a fancy Martha Stewart bone folder. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz. |
Once you’ve applied and smoothed your glue, wrap the glued area with wax paper and a tenser bandage for a couple hours.
Book Shoes
This was the most involved and time-consuming part of the
workshop, the end of which I unfortunately missed because I had to catch a
train home. Book shoes prevent abrasions, cradle books without putting stress
on them, and totally enclose them, which means that they are especially
beneficial for hardcovers.
 |
| A book shoe. Source. |
You need to choose acid-free, lignin-free board that is strong
but able to fold well for your book shoes. The process involves a lot of precise measuring and cutting with a strong X-Acto knife. I
invite you to visit the Northeast Document Conservation Centre’s free resource page if you would like to read up on the details of constructing a book shoe.
 |
| Making the first measurements and cuts for a book shoe. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz. |
Feel free to check out the Canadian Bookbinders and Book
Artists Guild (CBBAG) on their website or like the GTA chapter’s Facebook page
to get updates about workshops in the area.
A heartfelt thank you to Lauren for sharing her knowledge
and resources with me!
What an informative post! And a lovely picture of the Hart House library, too. I tweeted this post @bookideasblog . Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing my post, BookIdeas! I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed reading it.
DeleteGreat post! Thanks for sharing. Book repair actually looks like a lot of fun :)
ReplyDelete