New directions in library binding: Life after “class a”: A comprehensive report

Abstract

The Resources and Technical Services Division (RTSD) of the American Library Association sponsored the Library Binding Regional Institute, “New Directions in Library Binding: Life After ‘Class A”’ held September 16-17 in Atlanta, Georgia. The program featured 17 presenters, including both librarians and commercial library binders. The institute provided participants with an intensive and comprehensive view of library binding. About 120 people attended the institute, with some traveling from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada. Supervisors and staff of serials, technical services, collection development, binding and preservation units, as well as several library binders, were present. The program included 11 presentations, a practicum session on decision-making for appropriate binding treatments, and a panel discussion on assessing needs and effecting change in library binding. Sally Grauer, Executive Director of the Library Binding Institute in Austin, Texas, officially opened the program. She gave a brief history of the Library Binding Institute’s Stondard for Library Binding (LBI Standard), noting that the first edition was published in 1934 with minimum specification standards for a well-defined process of library binding known as “Class A.” The eighth edition, published in 1986, eliminates the term “Class A” and offers instead a variety of binding specifications that are preservation-conscious and considered the standard for all library binding today. Grauer stressed that communication is the key to the new standard. She emphasized the importance of developing a good working relationship between librarians and their commercial binders, as they share the common goal of the preservation of library materials. Bruce Jacobsen, Vice President of the Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., discussed the nature of the library binding industry. He noted the changes that have influenced the development of the industry over the years and then focused on the many challenges that librarians and binders currently face. Librarians have to decide which materials are appropriate for each volume that they send to their binder, keep within their budget, and most importantly, know the abilities of the binder they are working with. The binders have had to move from