Book Repair

We often receive pictures of broken books through texts and emails, the sender is often in a quandary as to wether or not their book can be repaired. Rest assured, the only books I have met and could not repair were ones that had wet cement poured over the top of them and then left in that condition for almost 200 years. Other than that, books of all types can be repaired. 

But my book doesn’t have a spine covering, can it still be repaired? YES!

And my book’s covers are detached, can it still be repaired? YES!

And my book has missing or torn pages, can it also be repaired? YES!

Or my book is 500 years old, can it be repaired? YES! (In fact, I’d love to see it!)

Many other things may be wrong with your book, but through conservation and/or restoration, we can bring your book back to life, and make it useable once again.

With book conservation we try to retain the highest percentage of the original book, repair it and then put it back together. With restoration we may add new elements like new leather, papers or headbands. With each book there may be some of both, conservation and/or restoration, depending on the end results the client wants, talk with the conservator to make those decisions. 

Just writing this post is harder than you might think. We love books and believe every book deserves a chance to be repaired, but some consideration must be made as there is a cost associated with book conservation and repair.

We do get requests from time to time to fix a torn children’s book, or a water damaged novel, or a well read and broken book. If the book is relatively new and could easily be replaced. The question you would want to ask, “Is there sentimental value to this specific copy of the book?”.

The cost to find an in print, non rare book, at the store or online will in most cases be less than repair costs.

The correct answer is Yes, “always and forever”. 

Actually, the answer to this question is entirely up to you—I believe every book is worth fixing, but that might be why I have this job and I love books. For you there are some reasons where fixing your book might be a great idea.

The first, does your book have sentimental value, has your book been passed down for many generations? 

This copy of Little Women had been passed down through several women, from a mother to daughter, then from an aunt to a niece, then again from a mother to daughter, and yet again from mother to daughter. For four generations, these women have shared and enjoyed this book.  

Or it could be a beloved story you remember your mother or father reading to you at night.

Or it could be a family Bible that crossed the plains and that has your family tree inscribed within it’s pages. 

But, does sentimental value equal dollar value? This is again, entirely up to you.

Second, is your book rare or a first edition? 

If your book falls under this category, but is in poor condition, I would say most definitely, it’s worth the repair. Either for the historical value or the dollar value (should you decide to sell it after it’s repaired). Did your book belong to someone famous, is their signature to be found inside its pages? If so, I would definitely recommend getting it repaired, books like these are time markers, with them we are able to time travel, back to an age or time when they were first made and connect to the people that owned them.

Third, is your book a book? 

Ok, so here our bias is showing. Books are wonderful containers of knowledge, if you need to learn something about anything you can learn it from a book! At the turn of the 21st century many people believed books would become unused relics, and that we would only have digital books to be read on phones, tablets, or computers. Luckily, bibliophiles have banded together and books are no longer endangered species, and are in fact still “bred in captivity” or I mean, made in binderies. But for those books that have been around for awhile and need some tender loving care, then we can help you answer the question, Yes, my book is worth being repaired!

To be fair we discuss some situations in which book conservation or repair is not the best option. You can learn more as we discuss, “When is it not worth fixing a book?”.