NEWSPAPERS
Because newspapers are printed on wretched paper which it is freely admitted will disintegrate in a comparatively short time, the question when to bind and when to throw away is a hard one to decide. For the small library it is surely unwise to bind any except the local paper, which will be used from time to time for local history. In many cases it may be wiser simply to wrap the volumes to protect them from the light and file them chronologically. The librarian of the large library, however, no matter how disgusted he may be with the poor quality of paper used finds it necessary to bind a number of newspapers. When bound they will last twenty-five years or more, during which time they are sure to be used sufficiently to warrant binding.
Newspapers must be kept away from light, heat and moisture. If possible, keep in a dark closet until ready for binding. Publishers of local papers ought to give a copy for binding.
1. Newspapers must be bound in one-half duck, best quality.
It is never under any circumstances wise to bind newspapers in leather. Duck, to be sure, gathers dirt easily, but it seems to be the only material sufficiently strong and long-lived for binding newspapers.
2. Fly-leaves and end papers should be made of extra heavy paper well guarded inside and outside the fold.
3. It is permissible to stitch sections lengthwise before sewing regularly on bands, but oversewing is preferable.
4. Boards of double thickness must be used. It is best, perhaps, to make the boards by gluing or pasting two boards of ordinary thickness together.
5. Corners should be covered with vellum tips.
6. Tight backs must be used.
7. Sides must be covered with paper.
This facilitates the handling of the volumes. If cloth sides are used on newspapers it increases enormously the labor in shelving them and even of using them on ordinary library tables. In libraries that can afford to shelve newspapers on patent shelving with rollers, cloth sides are preferable.
8. Libraries that can afford it should use a fibre-filling preservative on the edges. (See page 116 of the Bulletin of the American Library Association for 1912.)