Book collections should be regularly cleaned to remove dust and discourage insects and mold (see HOUSEKEEPING). Although most library collections have books on the shelf that are damaged or have deteriorated, the books may be of little current interest to readers. The best way to ensure that treatment is being applied to the books in demand is to establish a system for monitoring them immediately after they are returned to the circulation desk. Non-circulating books should be monitored prior to reshelving from the reading tables. Circulation staff should be trained to recognize damage and deterioration and then to transfer the books to a location where the necessary remedial action can take place. This is usually a book repair unit. Damaged books should be sorted to determine the correct course of action.

If a book:
• Has sound paper, is not rare, and has a sound text block, it is ready for basic repair.
• Has brittle paper (usually determined by a double corner fold), it must be set aside for Reformatting.
• Bears characteristics suggesting that it is rare or scarce, it should be set aside for an informed decision on treatment.
• Has a broken text block and leaves that are loose and falling out, it should be set aside for major remedial action.

In most libraries, by far the largest percentage of books can be speedily returned to the circulating collection after basic repair. Book repair techniques are quite simple to learn and the materials usually easy to obtain.

Click on the links below to learn more about the basic remedial treatment of books.

• Tools
• Basic repairs
• Emergency action for rare books
• Repairing adhesive binding bond breaks
• Recasing books