Book Repair & Preservation In Libraries

I'm hoping that someone here can help me find some local training courses within the Washington,D.C. Metro Area on Book Repair & Preservation that I can take so I can learn how to take and repair our Library books and journals that have fallen apart over the years. I would love to learn how to do this but so far we have been unable to find any courses locally. We haven't been able to find anything at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), NIH or even the National Agriculture Library (NAL). Up until a couple of years ago we still had an Ancient looking Velo-Binding Machine we used quite often to bind all of our Newsletters in however that would only last for so long because after awhile they would start to fall apart because they would
get handled so often by both the Library Staff and all of our Patrons who came in to look at the Newsletters.

Our Library has an awful lot of Ancient books some dating back to the 1920s, 1900s, and even some from the 1890s. The real Ancient material we own shoud be better cared for and even repaired if we had the right equipment to do it with inhouse. Of course you really could use the Velo-binding machine on any journals unless it was a thin enough paper journal that had fallen apart with pages coming out as soon as you touched it. By having the Newsletters Velo-bound in plastic sometimes did make it kind of hard to make nice clear copies of any articles that needed to be copied. I have already volunteered to take any and all Training Courses that we can find to learn how to better care for & also to repair our book & journal collections. Any help or advice you all can give would greatly be appreciated.

Beatles1964

I've looked at the relevant link at the Book Arts Web, and don't see anything that jumps out at me as in the D.C. area. But you might recognize an institution that I don't.

Look here and here, too.

You might also try calling the conservation departments at major institutional libraries. In D.C., try the Smithsonian, the Folger, etc. They might be able to direct you to some courses. And, often, conservationists and bookbinders in such institutions offer private classes on the side.

Hey lilithcar Thanks A Lot for the great suggestions. I'll have to look into them. I had never heard of the Book Arts Web before and I wouldn't mind being able to do some travelling especially in the U.K. which I have always dreamed of visiting one day. The problem with travelling Overseas is that I would have to pay for it all myself and probably wouldn't get an expense account. lol!!

Beatles1964

> 3

I sympathize. There are workshops in Montefiascone, Italy, that I would love to go to: http://www.monteproject.com/

But I will have to win the lottery first!

The Center for book Arts in New York City offers many courses that would interest you. many on weekends. give it a look. there is a new list of courses on line.www.centerforbookarts.org

Pyramid Atlantic http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org in Silver Spring, MD has had repair and preservation classes in the past. They may be able to suggest some teachers. I see that they are now offering to design workshops to order, so perhaps that will suit your needs.

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA is a non-profit, regional conservation center. It specializes in the preservation of paper-based materials. Aside from conservation services, they offer a variety of workshops, classes and programs to provide training on topics from collection care to digitization.

They also offer free preservation advice to institutions and individuals worldwide.

Additionally, there are a number of Preservation Leaflets with information on various topics available on the Web site.

Did you ever find a place in the Washington, DC area? I have the same issues, except that I have a book from the 1600 and really need an expert to restore /re-bind it. Thanks.