Fix a broken book?
Is it perfect bound or hardbound? I’m gonna guess perfect bound (which is like a paperback novel). You have a couple of options. There are book binding machines, which some Kinkos have, and most any city will have (scan your yellow pages for binderies), and there are a lot of small shops that’ll do it for a song. Or, you can clamp it, run it through the bandsaw (be careful not to take off too much) and get it tape bound (which they’ll do at any Kinkos). Or you can go buy some stickflat binder’s glue (a lot of scrapbooking places have this now, along with art supply shops, some hardware stores, and- again- binderies), cut a piece of cloth to the right size, lop off the binding at about 1/16th of an inch (you might even sand it off, if you have those long wooden clamps or can jury rig some), then glue the cloth to the back of the pages, clamp it and let it sit (it’ll help to glue the cloth to the covers as well, as that’ll give it a better seal). It’s really not that hard at all, but it
We repair books daily at the bookstore where I work, and we usually don’t charge at all if a customer brings in what you describe. Maybe $5 if it’s an atypical case. But this sounds *very* easy to fix yourself. klangklangston’s method is a good one, but seems more appropriate for a book that’s not “a cheap, glued together” paperback. I’ve found that a slightly less involved version, without cloth, works just as well for 90% of the paperbacks we see with loose covers and pages falling out: Scrape off as much of the hardened glue as you can, while leaving the “mini books” intact. Then just line everything up, break out the Elmer’s glue, use your finger to smooth a thin layer of glue over the mini books’ spines (don’t overdo it), place the cover over them, make sure everything’s lined up again, apply pressure up and down the spine and hold with thick rubber bands overnight. Ta da. People are usually surprised at how easy it is. Special kinds of binding glue really aren’t necessary for thi
Here’s what I do when that happens to old books. I have access to plastic library glue which seems similar to Elmer’s – I’m not a chemist so I’ve never analysed it. But anyway, instead of cutting off the icky edge, I get cheesecloth – you can find it anywhere you can buy canning supplies and often supermarkets will carry it even if they don’t have canning jars. I cut the cheesecloth to fit the length of the book’s spine and fold it over a few thicknesses. Then I spread the glue on the cheesecloth and also on the book’s spine. Then I slam the whole thing together, lining it up as well as possible and I rubberband it all together several times. I let the book dry for at least 24 hrs – wipe up all glue drips first, of course. Bonus points for pressing while drying. Then I get plain old masking tape and tape the front and back covers to the first and last pages of the book. And that’s how we fix cheapo paperback books (that cost $35, yes, I know) chez Lynsey.
