Bookbinding
The library's mission includes preserving and making the cultural heritage of the extensive collections available. The bookbinders' workshop plays an important role. The bookbinders' workshop is a qualified manual workshop located at the Humanities library. It provides services to the entire Gothenburg University Library.
The bookbinder's workshop at the Gothenburg University Library dates back to 1954, when the library opened. Today, three bookbinders work here, mending and maintaining the collection materials. The bookbinder's workshop receives materials from the various library branches that constitute the Gothenburg University Library. However, we are unable to accommodate requests from other sections at the university, or from the general public.
Common tasks
As a rule, we mend mainly books and bound periodicals. Common types of damage include loose leaves and spines, or covers that have come off from the body of the book. Measures and methods are adapted to the materials. Textbooks for current courses with a limited lifespan in the curriculum need perhaps a less reverential treatment than what is warranted for a full leather 17th century binding. Inversely, books that are frequently circulated need mending in a way that withstands repeated handling. Rarities that are taken off the shelf less often can manage with less invasive treatments, which also ensure the preservation of the history of the item in question.
The bookbinder's workshop mends archival materials as well as books - an example of the former are letters from our manuscript collections. Such letters are sometimes torn through the writing itself, promtping highly delicate repairs. Posters are another example - sometimes, they have been rolled up for storage for a long time, and need flattening out.
Sometimes, books returned to us have had an accident, and have been "mended" with tape by some well-meaning patron. When this happens, we need to remove the tape using various methods, without destroying the paper or covers. The glue on the tape will eventually discolour and destroy the paper, and printed text and illustrations also tend to migrate from the paper onto the tape, which means this information is later lost, once the tape comes off.
In addition, we manufacture many kinds of sheaths and boxes for rare and fragile books, manuscripts, archival materials, maps and other objects from our collections.