Author: Jean

Book with Broken Spine (part 2)

/ Jean / Leave a comment

First I removed the end paper from the spine. Seems like “first, do no harm” is not an option today.

The hinge is broken and a curly edged piece was attached to the cheesecloth. I removed it but now wonder if I can use that for the repair or should I use the single stitch binder tape?

While I contemplate that, I know that the end paper coming off the back board will have to be glued so I mixed library glue with water to make a light adhesive.

Those things have to dry first before I can complete the rest of repair, so — patience. I did experiment with ironing the material that had been attached to the cheesecloth. It was easier to straighten than I anticipated.

It came out really nice and flat. But when I rewatched the video on single stitch binder tape, I realized that the reason this broke is that this material was not strong enough to hold such a large text block. I think it would be best to finish the repair with the binding tape.

Stay tuned.

Library Book with Broken Spine

/ Jean / Leave a comment

If I kept looking, I knew I would find one of these “over-size” (coffee table) books with problems. At last, I found a lovely book about origami that has sadly taken leave of its spine.

A small search revealed that I needed single stitch binder tape. What is that?

First, a video of how this might pan out. (It’s scary starting out with more destruction required).

I love the above video and the evident care taken to repair the book (by Sonoma County Book Repair Series). For a shorter demo of a similar repair, see below (by Demco).

And yes, it seems like the initial step is to commit to putting the book under the knife. But first, I have to order some single-stitch bookbinder tape.

These pages are clearly in trouble. They’re stitched. They’ve separated. They need help. #IdahoArtEducationAssociation

Book mending

/ Jean / Leave a comment
Above: The first video I watched to get my bearings with this project.

Looking into book repair and how the professionals do it.

This video method requires specialized equipment and is out of my reach, but it has familiarized me with the parts of a book and some of the materials. I am working on a class with the Idaho Art Education Association led by Rachael Mayer. We are using “Almost Lost Arts: Traditional Crafts and the Artisans Keeping Them Alive” by Emily Freidenrich as our textbook.

The sky’s (nearly) the limit, so I am working to keep all the virtual bits and the physical bits together in one place. My job today was to walk through the library and find some old books to mend. I didn’t find a good example to work on, but rather some superficial type repairs, which I will do.

Actually, (the above) was the first fascinating video I watched which filled me with a scattering of ideas.

Now back to the real world.

Reflection

/ Jean / Leave a comment

“Verbal bullying includes name-calling, insulting, intimidating, mocking, threatening, taunting, teasing, and making racist or sexist comments. When does teasing cross the line and turn into bullying? Not everyone agrees, but some researchers see both teasing and bullying as points on a continuum of intentionally hurtful behavior, different only in degree (Froschl, Sprung, and Mullin-Rindler, 1998). One study (Oliver, Hoover, and Hazler,1994) found that children are confused about teasing: They said it was done in fun, but they also ranked it as the most frequent bullying behavior. Verbal abuse is the most common form of bullying for children of, both sexes, even young ones (Kochenderfer and Ladd, 1996; Nansel et al., 2001).” – B. Kaiser and J.S. Raminsky, p. 254

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/teasing

Next Steps

/ Jean / Leave a comment

Last summer I worked a bit with the people who developed the website NextSteps Idaho. I found it was a good resource for lots of information even if you weren’t the target audience (Idaho residents).

For example, here is a fun page where you can imagine your best life and see what it takes to maintain your chosen lifestyle. Create different scenarios and see how it affects the bottom line.

https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/plan-smart/intro

I find it helpful for my audience to check in with reality. Maybe internet cost is not something one would think of when designing a sustainable income. We think of rent and food and car, but what about clothes, entertainment, or — children?

I admit this page is geared toward Idahoans, but many of the other pages (especially the aptitude sections) are free, fun, and full of awesome info. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to highlight some of those in future.