[CHAPTER III]
The Literary Side of Library Rebinding
After satisfactory materials and methods of binding for a library have been discovered and adopted, there still remain many questions which can be well answered only by one having a wide knowledge of books. Nor is a general knowledge of books alone enough to qualify one to answer wisely these questions. Close acquaintance with the library’s policy in regard to book-saving and book-buying and of its attitude toward the demand for popular and ephemeral fiction; knowledge of its reference work; of the amount of handling its books receive by the public, and of its financial condition and policy—all this and much besides the person in charge of binding should have before she can make wise decisions. And particularly she needs knowledge of paper, editions, prices and similar matters.
Take fiction for example. More than half of the binding bills of most free public libraries are probably chargeable to novels. One of these comes to the hands of the person in charge of binding in such condition that at the first glance it seems desirable to rebind it. Let us suppose that it is still in publisher’s cloth; is quite soiled outside, but still fairly clean within; that the cover has parted from the book in front; that several leaves are loose and two of them frayed at the edges; that at the back the outside sheets of several signatures are nearly worn through or broken; and that the label is off. Should it be rebound; or what should be done with it? Before deciding its fate, questions like the following must be answered.
If this is not the only copy of this book now in the library, are the other copies in good condition?
If they are, can the library spare this copy because the demand for this particular title is past? And is it not better economy to throw it away or sell it—as it will probably never be wanted again—than to spend money in binding it?
That is to say, if it is bound, will it not stand idle on the shelf?
If it continues to be somewhat popular, and this copy would get some use if it were replaced, still, is it a book the use of which it is the library’s policy to encourage?
If not, has it not served its purpose and should it not be put away, rather than entail on the library another expense item in cost of binding?
If it is the only copy in the library, is it a book the library wishes to retain or has it been in effect on trial, and has proved not to be worth keeping?
If so, would not the binding of it be a use of money far less justifiable than its original purchase?