Support

Have you ever thrown a book away because you didn’t know how to repair a broken spine or a loose page?  The following information will help you keep some of those older or damaged titles that you either cannot replace or you are trying to extend the life of a title for as long as possible.

The AALS Professional Collection has two titles that are the basics in the book repair field.  Book Repair: A How-To-Do-Manual and Basic Book Repair.  If you are interested in borrowing any of these titles, and you are a library staff member within AALS, please call the AALS Office at 210/207-2609 for additional information.

There are a few sites devoted to book repair that can be viewed below.  Some of these sites offer illustrated tutorials with step by step instructions.

Dartmouth University Library’s A Simple Book Repair Manual  
Tippicanoe County Public Library’s General Book Care Site  
Michigan State University Library’s Three Basic Book Repair Procedures – tutorial with photos 
Alaska State Library’s Conservation Book Repair:  A Training Manual  
Brodart’s Step by Step Book Repair Manual 

Cleaning Books 

Repair and cleaning products may be found in a variety of places.  Traditional library products are found at Demco.com, Brodart.com or Kapco.com and other library vendors.  You may also find cleaning products at office supply stores such as Office Depot or Office Max.

Cleaning Books  

Northeast Documentation Conservation Center’s Cleaning Books and Shelves
PUBLIB’s Cleaning Books

How to Clean a Book 
  

If your library has suffered water or fire damage, please contact Amigos Library Services for professional help in salvaging your collection.