4. Lining papers be guarded with strong drill and sewed through;
5. The book be sewed on two tapes;
6. Highest grade super be used for back-lining;
7. Books be glued to the back of the cover; making a tight back book;
8. Buckram be used for the covers instead of the regular publisher's cover.
The extra cost of the book was ten cents, and it was an excellent piece of work. In actual wear the books far exceeded the hopes of those who favored the plan, for they all went through the period of greatest popularity without being withdrawn from circulation. When they came to the point where they could no longer be circulated, most of them were discarded instead of being sent to the bindery.
The initial success of the plan induced other publishers to try the experiment. In 1908 one hundred and twenty different books could be obtained in reinforced bindings from seventeen publishers. Among these publishers were the firms of Century Company, Harper, Houghton, Little Brown & Company, McClurg, Putnam, Scribner's, Stokes, and Warne. Some of these books were well-bound, the publishers evidently making a conscientious effort to meet the demands of the committee; others were makeshifts not worth one-half the extra cost.
The success of "Tides of Barnegat" encouraged Charles Scribner's Sons to give the experiment further trial, and from time to time during a period of several months this firm issued books bound in this way. In no case, however, was the initial success repeated. After the experiments had been tried by the different publishers for several months the obstacles to the plan, several of which had been foreseen, grew greater rather than less, and in the end the publishers gave up the plan of providing special editions of new fiction and juvenile books for library use.
The main obstacle to the successful culmination of the plan lay in the inability of librarians to order books before publication, and in the inability of publishers to make special editions after the book had been published. The success of "Tides of Barnegat" was due largely to the fact that the author and book were well known in advance of publication. Librarians knew at once that they wanted the book and the orders were filed promptly. In the case of nearly every other book which Scribner published in this way librarians could not decide until they had actually seen the book, or at least had seen reviews of it. Quite naturally they sent in few orders for the books. On the other hand Scribner did not care to bind a large number of books in special binding unless they had some assurance that the books would be sold; and they could not at any time afford to manufacture a very small number. It seemed impossible to bridge this gap which existed between the publisher and the librarian.
Other reasons which worked against the success of the plan were: