Owing to the small number of times which books in the original publishers' binding were issued, the committee on binding of the American Library Association made an effort in 1906 to induce the publishers to issue a special edition for library use. As it was recognized that the publishers would not take kindly to elaborate specifications for stronger bindings, the improvements asked for were made as few in number as possible. They were the following:
1. Sewed on three tapes (very small books sewed on two tapes).
2. First and last signatures reinforced with muslin.
3. Cloth strip in joints pasted on fly leaf and sewed through.
4. Thin strong muslin over backs.
An attempt to demand hand-sewed books was abandoned when it was discovered that this stipulation added greatly to the cost of the binding without noticeably increasing its strength. The main strength of a book bound according to these specifications lay in the guarding of the first and last signatures.
The honor of issuing the first reinforced book for library use belongs to Charles Scribner's Sons Co., who in the summer of 1906 bound 1500 copies of F. Hopkinson Smith's "Tides of Barnegat." Their specifications, based on those submitted by the A. L. A. committee on binding, required that:
1. Signatures contain not more than sixteen pages;
2. First and last signatures be guarded with muslin before sewing;
3. First and last signatures be oversewed (actually they were run through a sewing machine);