Mending Book Spines - A Preservation Perspective
Exhibit curated by Hillary Morgan, Megan Lambert, and Jessica Miller
A Special Thank You to Andrew Violet for his help with the printed materials and layout this exhibit.
This online exhibit is made in conjunction with our physical ehxibit in Norlin Library, M350B, which will be on display through Summer 2024.
The University Libraries’ Preservation and Collection Care team provide hands-on care and support for all collections items from 5 of our Boulder campus library locations. When books come to us for treatment, one of the most commonly damaged areas we see is along the spine. In this exhibit, we will explore how book spines are made, how we treat book spines on both circulating and non-circulating collections, and look at examples of spine treatments in our collections.
Like its name suggests, the spine is the backbone of the bookbinding. A good spine will provide protection and support for both the pages, also known as the text-block, and the attachment of the covers, known as the hinges. Books are mechanical objects which need to be handled to be used. Books’ covers and especially their spines should be durable enough to withstand this use. The spine is often the part of the binding exposed on our shelves, we grab it first when pulling a book out to read, and rest our books on their spines when leafing through their pages. Over time, this use becomes evident on the binding and could begin to weaken the spine’s ability to support and protect.
When treating a book’s spine, a multitude of factors must be considered, including: whether the book is part of our circulating collections, how the spine was made, what impact the original spine structure had on its wear over time, and what information may be lost by treating the spine. Beyond practicality, the structure and design of a spine can tell a lot about when and where that book was made. That information can make continued preservation of the original spines more valuable; therefore, our treatment decisions must take all this information into account. Often a balance must be struck between preserving a book's original structure and prioritizing its continued durability during use.
This exhibit will give a closer look at our process when treating book spines, highlighting the variety in our collections, the importance of treating each item according to its individual needs, and the challenges of making treatment decisions that address those needs while fitting within time and budget constraints.
How Book Spines Are Made
Book spines vary throughout our collections depending on when, where, and how the book was created. The book spine consists of the spine of the text-block, as well as the spine of the covering material on the binding. Here we will highlight a few different types of spine structures we commonly see in our collections.
Flexible Tight-Backed Spine:
A flexible tight-backed spine has the covering material directly adhered to the spine of the text-block. When the book is opened, the spine covering material flexes along with the movement of the text-block.
One potential wear issue with this structure is that the covering material will wear faster as it flexes with the rest of the binding. Cracks or splits may also develop in the covering material at the points where it is flexing.
Stiff Tight-Backed Spine:
A stiff tight-backed spine has the covering material directly adhered to the spine of the text-block. The covering on the spine is made of stiffer material and often lined with thicker paper or board. The more stiff spine covering keeps its shape and prevents the spine from flexing as the book is opened and closed.
One of the main points of tension with this structure can be where the text-block spine is adhered to the covering. While the covering will not flex with the text-block, the movement of the text-block can still put stress on the point where they are attached. Especially if the adhesive degrades over time, this point of connection can fail.
Hollow-Back Spine:
A hollow-back spine has a built-in gap between the spine covering material and the spine of the text-block. This can be achieved multiple ways, but the ultimate result is that when the book is opened, the flexing of the text-block spine will not directly affect the spine covering.
With a stronger covering material and hinges, this structure can be one of the most durable. We are less likely to see wear from the stress of the spine flexing as it is used. Instead, we may see splitting along the hinges or at the end caps first.
Common Wear and Damage to Spines
Whether tight-backed or hollow, there are some times of damage that are more universal across all types of spines. Particularly, hinge splits and end cap breaks. End cap breaks often come from mis-handling of books when pulling them off of shelves –when the book is pulled down by hooking a finger around the top of the spine and pulling down at an angle. Broken hinges often occur when the book is dropped or held by one cover. The material attaching the cover to the spine can also be weak and split during use from the stress of flexing open and shut.
To help prevent damage, remove books from shelves by gripping the sides of the spines, rather than the top or bottom. Store any large, heavy books flat when possible. When a book is in your bag, make sure it will not catch or abrade against other items. For fragile spines opening them using a book cradle. When you find a library book that is damaged, bring it to a staff member and let them know it needs to go to Preservation and Collection Care!
General Circulating Collections Treatment
The goal of mends to our general circulating collections is to make the books stand up to heavy wear. These mends prioritize durability over preserving the original binding structure of the book. Types of treatments are chosen based on what will be the most efficient as we balance workflows with the large numbers of collections we treat. Depending on time and budget, damaged collections items may be sorted for boxing, re-binding, or hands-on treatment. Materials used for hands-on treatment are also chosen based on their durability and ease of use.
For our general circulating collections, we have developed a few standardized treatment methods that work for most circulating spine mends. One of these treatments includes covering the spine in cloth tape.
Students in Preservation and Collection Care carry out mends to book spines.
Another method takes more time but allows us to still showcase the original spine covering material. This involves removing the original spine covering, replacing it with book cloth, then reapplying the original covering on top of the cloth.
Rare and Distinctive Collections Treatment
The goal of mends to our Rare and Distinctive Collections is to stabilize them for use while preserving their historic value. We also look at a multitude of factors when determining what treatment options will meet the needs of the item best – including how often an item is accessed, how it is stored, what we can learn from its current condition, and how invasive a treatment will be to the original structure and materials.
Any mends used to stabilize the book will maintain as much of the original structure and condition as possible . Mends can be removed if needed and only solvent or water-soluble adhesives are used. Materials used for repair are also tested to make sure they won’t degrade over time or chemically react with the original book materials.
Sometimes the original structure can be a primary factor in how the book has worn or been damaged over time. This can create a large discussion around how to mend the book in a way that honors the original structure while not replicating the conditions that led to its wear in the first place.
An example is this 17th century binding, which had lost much of it’s original spine covering and what did remain was detached from the book.
It was determined that the original spine structure was a flexible tight-back, which led to more wear and stress on the original leather over time. To best preserve the remaining leather, a new spine covering was created as a hollow-back, which is easily removable and still maintains evidence of the original structure.
To learn more about this treatment, please visit the next page of our exhibit: Conservation Treatment of a 17th Century Book Spine