MAGAZINE BINDERS
One of the vexing questions which properly comes under the head of binding is that of magazine binders used on current periodicals in reading rooms. The binding of current numbers for circulation is described on page 190. It must be admitted that no binder on the market is perfectly satisfactory. Some hold the periodicals satisfactorily but are hard to adjust. Others are easy to adjust but the magazines slip out easily, or can with ease be surreptitiously removed. Some have keys which become lost or will not work; some are clumsy; and some have projections which scratch tables. All are hard to hold in the hands. On an average a new binder is put on the market each year with the assurance of the maker that all faults have been eliminated. A trial soon convinces the librarian that it is no better than others and that the perfect binder does not exist.
For the small library the problem is not an important one, since it is entirely feasible in such libraries to place current numbers without covers on reading room tables, or to cover them with tough paper. Mr. Dana advocates using most magazines without binders even in the reading room of a large library. Possibly this may be done advantageously in some libraries, but it will depend upon the atmosphere of the city, the character of those who use the library and the ease with which assistants can keep all readers under observation. Librarians for the most part will continue to believe that a temporary binder of one kind or another is necessary for current periodicals in the general reading room.
Binders in the reading room serve two purposes. They protect the magazine and they help to remind readers that the magazines are public property. Some magazines—the Scientific American, for example—are very thin and may be easily folded and put into an inside pocket. A binder does not prevent theft, but its tendency is to reduce it.
The qualifications of a good binder are:
1. Ease of fastening, together with difficulty in removing magazines by the uninitiated.
2. Comparative ease of holding in the hand.
3. Durability of surface and of device used for fastening the magazine.
4. Preservation of the magazine without injury.
5. Firmness when finally fastened.
Even the best magazine binders are far from being perfect in any of these requirements, except in ease with which they are fastened.
There are many kinds of magazine binders. Mr. Dana, in the second edition of his "Notes on bookbinding for libraries," mentions by name twelve different makes; and as many more, some of which are equally good, are known to the writer. But were there twice as many it is probable that they would fall, as they do now, into five classes.
1. Spring back.
2. Eyelet and tape.
3. Sewed.
4. Rod.
5. Clamp which is screwed up tight.
The well known spring-back variety is, in principle, a semi-circular steel tube longer than the magazine to be held, to which board sides are attached. When the cover is closed the jaws of the steel are close together. In order to insert the magazine the covers are bent back toward each other. This opens wide the jaws and the magazine is slipped in. When the covers are released the steel tube is firmly fastened to the back of the magazine. This kind of binder is probably the easiest of all to adjust. It is, however, equally easy to remove, is clumsy and is harder to hold in the hand than others.
In the eyelet and tape class there are holes in the back of the cover. In fastening the magazine, tape or cord (generally a shoe string) is passed through the center of the magazine, laced into the eyelet and tied. The main objections to this kind of a binder are that it takes some time to fasten them and the magazine is generally loose in the binder when fastened.
Binders which require sewing have holes in the sides near the back. Instead, however, of passing the cord through the center of the magazine, holes corresponding to holes in the binder are punched directly through the magazine at the back, one near the head, one near the tail and another in the middle. The binder is then sewed on through these holes. The chief merit of these binders is that they are inexpensive; but it takes longer to attach them than other binders and the magazine is injured by the holes which have been punched.
There are various kinds of binders which use steel rods or bars through the center of the magazine. Some use one rather heavy rod which is hinged at one end, and hooked or fastened into a slot at the other end when the magazine has been inserted. Some have two or more thin steel rods hinged or pivoted at one end and held by a pin or a lock at the other end. And one at least has steel bars not permanently attached, the ends of which are in the form of a semi-circle, which are dropped between rigid uprights and prevented from slipping off by caps screwed on the uprights.
The writer knows of only two binders which use a clamp which must be screwed tightly in order to hold the magazine firmly. The great merit of these binders is that they hold the magazine firmly, so that it can by no possibility be removed except by the assistant who has the key. They are, however, clumsy and unduly large at the back and it takes some time to fasten them to the magazine.
Taking into consideration all points of excellence it is probable that some form of rod binder is the best. Rod binders are not hard to apply; they require some effort to remove them—those which lock cannot be removed without a key; they are firm when applied; and many of them do not injure the magazine. Nearly every librarian has his own personal preference among such binders.
Since binders receive very hard wear it is important that they should be made of good material. Those which are used for popular magazines should have cowhide backs and buckram or imitation leather (keratol or fabrikoid) sides. A full leather binding would help solve the question of dirt, but it is equally well and less expensively solved by using imitation leather on the side. In reading rooms frequented only by educated persons binders with flexible leather covers are desirable and are greatly enjoyed by readers. The cheaper grades of cloth, such as are used by the publishers, should never be used, as they soon wear through at the edges and corners. In many cases it is wise to use pigskin or morocco on the back, though if this is done, the cloth sides and the boards themselves may become disreputable before the back is worn. In nearly all binders the mechanism can be removed from the boards when they become shabby, and new covers attached. This will save some of the expense of a new binder. A clever mender can do such work so that it need not be sent to a regular library binder. The boards should not be made of mill boards, but of semi-tar or tar boards.