Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-06-14

valuable books. Strangely
enough, it is not the latest magic
of science which is making this
possible. The leather is obtained
from savages of Africa who pre-
pare the skins of the Niger goat
by some crude native process.
This leather is in demand for
old and heavy books. Buckram,
however, is beinA generally used
to bind even important collec-
tions of documents in the Library
of Congress. A trip through the
stacks in the manuscript division
shows long series of volumes en-
cased in olive green, brown, or
gray buckram covers, with PAN
els of leather of the same color
decorating the backs and form
ing dark background for the
gold lettering of the titles.
Library Binds Books.
This library, with the coun-
try's largest collection of books
to keep in order, attempts to
solve most Of its own bookbind-
ing and repairing, questions. Old
volumes cracking with age and
new paper-covered additions to
the shelves are bound in the big
library building by force of
workers detailed from the gov
eminent printing office.
Few visitors know of the ex-
istence of the library's bookbind-
cry, hidden away in the base
ment in long rooms opening off
red and white corridor. Here
70 people work at an endless job
of bookbinding. There are near
ly 100000 books in the gov
ernments library and about 1907
600 new books and pamphlets
come in every year. Many of the
new works have only flimsy pa
per covers, and all of these must
be either put in envelopes or
serviceably bound. Then there
are $50 volumes of newspapers
to be collected in huge tones
every month, and besides all this
there Is constant stream of
worn books to be repaired.
The bookbindery merely tries
to keep from being swamped. 1t
cannot accomplish nearly all OF
the work it would like to do If
appropriations permitted. Some
year the superintendent of the
division hopes to have a suffi-
GENTLY large appropriation so
that he can conduct grand
overhauling and see that every
book on the shelves is in first
class condition. But that Is only
one o< the castles in the air
which government chiefs and SUI
pervisors like to build. There
is scant prospect of any extra
sized appropriations from con-
gress for patching up books that
are disintegrating on library
shelves.
The binders In the library shop
do thorough work. Cover boards
are laced into each volume making
the binding q part of the book and
not merely a glued on covering.
The bindings in heavy books are
reinforced with a cloth joint.
The library workers can replace
cheap, worn out cover by dur
able one, but they are practically
helpless before the inferior grades
of paper on which the cheaper
modern book are printed. Some
of the popular novels go to pieces
like the "one-hoss shay of
Holmes poem. Not only do the
covers wear out, but the, paper
edges tear, and the threads cut
through the paper where the book
is sewed together. Books Of this
grade and popularity have a short,
intense career and are discarded
when they can no longer be repair
ed.
Preserving Newspapers.
How to preserve newspapers Is a
more difficult problem. The New
York public library has hit on a
plan which it regards as satisfac-
tory. Each page of news print In
a bound volume Is enclosed in thin
Japanese tissue. To prepare one
volume Of a newspaper, containing
only a months issues, by this meth
cd costs $45. But with an eve to
the feture. when the newspapers of
today will be valuable old historic
documents, the New York library
is using this tissue for current,
newly bound papers.
The library of congress does not
go to this expense and labor In
keeping its great collection Of
newspapers. There is an extremely
fine grade Of tissue. Gales crepe
line, that is used on important pa
pers to keep them from falling
apart, and the library of congress
has used this material on one or