Mending and Repair of Books
WHEN TO BIND OR WHEN
TO MEND
THE question when to bind or when to mend is of daily recurrence, and a decision must be made upon the examination of every circulating book returned, before placing it on the shelves. The answer will depend largely on the policy of the library regarding the binding question.
No library can afford to circulate shabby, soiled or ragged books, because:
(1) From an economic standpoint, a book's ultimate usefulness, or life, is materially shortened by neglect to bind at first sign of need.
(2) When books are given proper care by the library, standards are set which insure a like treatment on the part of the reading public.
(3) The reading public has a right to expect that its books shall be clean and whole, and that its property shall be in proper condition for satisfactory use.
WHEN TO BIND
When the stitches break and a section or a few leaves fall out, the book should be sent to the bindery immediately.
This is happening daily with the original publishers' bindings. If the book is removed from the shelves the librarian is at once confronted by the problem of being unable to answer the unceasing cry for the last new novel, as it is the fiction which is usually in this condition. However, if the book is allowed to circulate a few more times there are "pages missing" and the book has become valueless.
No book should be rebound with pages missing.
When the stitches have not broken, but either a few or all the sections have become loose: