Books into Buildings

If you've ever wanted to live surrounded by books...then try these buildings made out of books!

http://flavorwire.com/283928/10-gorgeous-buildings-made-out-of-books?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Day%206%20%28Saturday%29&utm_campaign=Unified%20Mailer#1

Safety in Public Libraries

Working in a public library isn't always safe. Working in the children's room of a public library? Even less safe. Any public librarian can tell you stories of finding men exposed and passed out in the children's room, teens making out (or worse) all over the library, not to mention the drunken/drugged/disorderly people, or people with mental illness, or people who are homeless...all of these (and more) can become problems and have the potential to spiral into violence.

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2012/04/24/auburn-librarian-recovering-after-random-attack/1185411

Raskally fellows: Are copyright infringers "pirates" and "thieves"?

Ack! Copyright infringement! In academic and school libraries, this topic is especially important. Academic and school librarians are well versed in the subject and have many guides for all the various formats for proper citations. However, fair use is up for debate...how far does fair use go? Read the article below for some very compelling discussions.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/04/raskally-fellows-are-copyright-infringers-pirates-and-thieves.ars

Book Repair: part 2

Well, I was able to finish the repairs on my friend's Bible! It turned out well. She'll have to be more careful with it! Took about three days total, including drying time. See the pics below (with explanations!) (Also, when I say "tape," I really mean "book tape." It's not your average Scotch tape on a roll!)

P.S. I know there are people out there reading this blog! Please feel free to comment on anything you like or dislike, and tell my your thoughts on things. Also, if there's anything you want to hear about, let me know!

I started back to front for this book, and had to finish separating the book's binding for the spine: the back half was still attached, while the front half was in multiple parts.

(Above) You can see where I used a heavier tape for extra support between the back page and the cover. (Below) I also used this kind of tape for pages that needed extra help.

(Above) As you can see, within the two halves, there were many other, smaller chunks of pages that were falling out (some were even only partially out!), sometimes even single pages. For these types of delicate mends, I used a thinner, clear tape. (Below) Some pages had lost some of their paper as well! I fixed these types with the stronger white tape seen in the above pictures, as leaving holey pages would lead to further damage. (You can see the wax paper behind the page to the left. This is useful because if I didn't use it, I would end up taping the page behind it as well.)

(Below) You can see that I sometimes used other books as weights to help keep the pages flat, after I had smoothed them with my "bone." As you can see, you have to very carefully lay down the tape to make sure the two facing pages don't end up having a gap, and so the words don't get covered!

(Below) I had to cut the book open the rest of the way so I could glue everything back together. The long cardboard piece laying across the book belongs in the spine...but the glue wasn't doing its job anymore.

Below you can see the final step in this repair job. I taped the two halves of the Bible to each other and glued the spine reinforcement down, as well as more gauze (Gauze used in bookbinding is called mull, and is used in case binding to adhere the text block to the book cover--from Wikipedia). 

The final final step is to let the book dry overnight or longer. I simply set the book spine down between two other books and set them against the wall (spines down!) to keep the Bible upright and so gravity would push the pages down into the spine.

Hope you enjoyed my journey through mending!

Book Repair: part 1

I got an interesting request from a friend the other day...she has a Bible that is in serious need of repair. Had this been a library book, I would have requested that we purchase a new copy. However, since this has great sentimental value to her, I told her I would do the best that I can.

As the below pictures show, there are many pages/chunks of the book that are loose or have come out completely. There are also some torn pages, and the spine has to be torn apart and glued/taped/pieced back together. There is a lot of work to do and it will have to be done in stages over the course of several days.

 The chunks of pages to the right are from the front of the book, and above is the worst torn page.

 Here are some loose pages...there are far more then seen here (there were a lot of individual loose pages within the chunks of pages that had torn out.

Above shows how out of repair this book's spine is! It's barely staying together: I'll have to finish taking it apart to rebuild it.

And interesting thing to note about Bibles is the thinness of the pages--it makes it difficult to repair these types of books because they can easily tear or soak up too much glue (I suggest trying to rely more on book tape for these types of projects), and they also wrinkle very easily (I've found that smoothing out the pages beforehand helps keep a book mender from wrinkling the pages too much when they lay down the book tape).

Below are the tools that I will be using.

Above is my book repair kit that I received as part of my course work for a technical services class I took. There is a variety of book tape, including colored and clear, as well as book binding glue, gauze (for spines), as well as other repair equipment (but I won't need to use those for this project). There is also this amazing how-to guide that guides you through the processes of book preservation (trying to prevent books from falling apart before their time), as well as repairing them.
Below are additional tools that come in handy but were not included with the pre-made kit. A knife (spine repair), small or medium brush (for delicate or precise gluing), scissors and something to smooth in and press down tape (I'm using an incense holder, but a flat edge of a comb or something similar would work as well).

I will keep posting as I go along! Wish me luck. :)

National Library Week!

It's National Library Week!
I thought about it and I think one of the most important things a library can provide is a wide range of knowledge and viewpoints, both fiction and non-fiction. Sometimes others don't like those viewpoints, so they challenge and try to ban books. (See my Sept 29 11 post: http://libgeek101.blogspot.com/2011/09/banned-books.html .) See the link below for the top 10 challenged books of 2011, then read them and decide for yourself.

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/censorship-watch/top-10-challenged-books-2011

Timbuktu Manuscripts

This is what happens when senseless violence threatens a culture's heritage and history.

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/global-reach/timbuktu-manuscripts-threatened-conflict-mali

Unshelved--The Fault in Our Stars

The Unshelved take on John Green's latest young adult book, The Fault in Our Stars.

http://www.unshelved.com/2012-4-6?utm_source=Overdue+Media&utm_campaign=5624aeab68-UA-127250-5&utm_medium=email

Also see my review of it on shelfari!

http://www.shelfari.com/libgeek/shelf

Multimedia Book

Once upon a time, a guy had an idea for a multimedia novel:

"So I wrote a different kind of love story. I worked with a lot of other artists. I borrowed words, phrases, images, and ideas from everything around me, just as the characters are influenced by everything around them. And then it begins to snow/rain/snow and they all head inside for an evening under the covers. And that’s how it goes.

Now I want my publishing to reflect those same values. I want to make a beautiful, animated, digital book that you can read on your desktop at work, your laptop in the bath, iPad under the stars, Kindle underwater, or smartphone in bed, under the covers with a lover. I want it to be collaborative, open-sourced, and multimedia. And when it’s done, I want to give it all away (pay what you will) so people can remix it and create their own things."

It's the future of books! The link below tells you more, as well as lets you contribute to the project if you want.

http://www.rockethub.com/projects/6066-into-the-green-green-mud-multimedia-novel

April Fool's at Your Library!

Pranks played by librarians. What could be funnier?

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/inside-scoop/april-fools-year-s-best-library-pranks

Citing Tweets?

Around since 2006, Twitter finally can be cited (in MLA)!

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/how-do-you-cite-a-tweet-in-an-academic-paper/253932/