Taping paperback books

Greetings!

My post for September 27, 2011 was about taping paperback books so they will last longer. In a smaller school, this might not be quite so important simply because you have fewer students handling the books over and over. But in a school that is larger, taping the books is really a cost-saving procedure in the long run. Paperback books can look ‘used and old’ very quickly particularly on the spines and edges of the book. By covering the edges of the covers and the spine, the book is reinforced and the tape covers the parts of the book that are used the most so the book is better protected.

Some people put contact paper over the entire cover. This works, but can be more expensive to do. One positive thing about using contact paper is the book can be cleaned easily with a bit of soap and a rag and not harm the cover. One downside to covering the book with contact paper or tape is that the cover may tend to bend outward and not lie nice and flat.
My post of September 27, 2011 was about taping paperbacks and I demonstrated how I do our paperback books here with pictures. If you are interested in seeing the process, go to sdalibrarian.blogspot.com and find the post for September 27, 2011. (If you are reading this right now, you are already on my blog! You can just quickly click over to the September 27, 2011 entry.)

Some minor changes have been made to the details of the materials I used back in 2011. I used to order nearly all my library materials from Highsmith, an online library supply source. Since then, Demco bought Highsmith and now I buy my supplies from Demco. I used to buy Scotch 845 book tape, and last year learned that Demco has book tape that is less expensive. I tried it and it works just as well.

We learned that using packing tape just does not work and is NOT a good idea. I recommend the Demco Premium brand which is just like the Scotch 845 brand and is at least $1.00 cheaper per roll.
I encourage you to go to my blog and see the pictures of me taping a book and you can decide for yourself if this is something you want to do. Some people don’t want to tape old beat up paperbacks, but start taping the new ones as they come in. This job is fairly easy and careful students can be trained to do this for you.

I hope you have a great week.

Audrey