LIBRARY BOOKBINDING: STANDARDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

The demand for specialized library bookbinding was created by the need to rebind the books lent free of charge by burgh and county libraries. Publishers' bindings were certainly not strong enough to withstand the wear and tear of public library usage and the authorities could not afford to purchase replacement copies. Traditional methods of binding such as half‐leather with laced‐in boards were much too costly for the libraries' limited funds.