Can't Judge a Book without Its Binding

The history of research libraries is, in one important regard, the history of institutions in conflict with themselves. Responding to competing interests, they strive to provide unimpeded access to scholarly books while maintaining those same volumes in perpetuity. In practice, these bastions of knowledge lean toward pragmatic maintenance solutions when dealing with the vast majority of their collections, employing methods often antithetical to archival or museum practice. While providing access to a wide range of books greatly benefits users, research libraries' policies governing general collection repair often disregard the significance of the historical material culture held by these cultural storehouses, naively shortchanging future scholars.
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century publishers' cloth bindings scattered throughout a research library's circulating collection represent cultural treasures. These fragile objects are important artistic works integrally linked to the book they were designed to protect; moreover, they are significant evidence of publishing's evolving history. Unfortunately, their preservation is often arbitrary. Over the past century sanctioned library repair and rebinding practices have destroyed the covers and sewing structures of possibly half of these scarce bookbindings, and the damage continues unabated.