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Bookmending Workshop

Bookmending workshop at Aptos Branch. They work for free, but each one's time is worth at least $36 an hour to the libraries. Twice a month, volunteer book menders meet at the Aptos library to repair library books that have been pulled out of circulation because their spines are loose or broken or because pages are loose. These are frequently used reference works and popular fiction and nonfiction that are well worth reclaiming because their average replacement cost is $25 and because some, no longer in print, cannot be replaced at all.
    Most repairs can be done fairly quickly, and each mender can usually process six books an hour. When there's a large crew of menders at the workshops, damaged books that were sent to technical services are often back on the shelves within a few weeks. In contrast, books sent to a commercial bindery for repair may be gone for four or five weeks, and the library is charged $6.00 per book by the bindery.
    The Aptos workshop has the atmosphere of an old-fashioned work-bee. At present, about eight volunteers have been participating, half long-time participants and half fairly recent members. Jeff Powelson, a library staff member, oversees the workshops. At the beginning of each session, Jeff demonstrates the relatively simple book-mending techniques to any first-time volunteers, while experienced crew members reach for their glue pots and plunge into their work.
    New volunteers for the book-mending workshop are always wanted. The flow of damaged books never lessens; and the more volunteers there are,the more quickly these books are returned to circulation. If you'd like to become a book mender, simply show up at one of the workshops, which are held in the meeting room of the Aptos Library (7695 Soquel Drive) on the first Tuesday of every month, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am.

Note: A second bookmending workshop, which meets at Central Branch, is currently on hiatus until September.