We would like to welcome two librarians from Renmin University of China as our new  preservation interns. Xiuzhong Xiong (Kelly) , Deputy Director of Systems and Manager of the Digitization Center, and Li Cao (Lucy)  from  the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Kelly and Lucy will be with us until April 26 learning book repair techniques and care and handling of library materials.

They began their training on March 26 by making blank books.  We are assisted by a wonderful of group of students who translate our instructions and explanations.

Kelly and Lucy sewed the sections of their books using a link stitch and then made quarter cloth covers with marbled paper sides. We used papers made by Iris Nevins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, they learned how to do a “full” repair. Cornell divides repair of circulating books into 3 categories: full, half and partial.

Books with weak joints or detached boards receive a full repair.

First, the spine is removed, the back is cleaned and new cloth strips are sewn to the text block. We drill holes for the thread using a jeweler’s drill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back of the text block is lined with paper. A new buckram spine is attached to the boards and the cloth strips that were sewn in are glued to the case. Then, the original spine is glued back on or we make a paper label.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the coming weeks they will be trained half and partial book repair techniques; and, they will be trained in disaster planning and recovery, mold prevention and remediation, and best practices for care and handling.

 

Welcome Lucy and Kelly.