Rare Book Care & Restoration Workshop

About this experience

A focused workshop in the library’s conservation room. Grace starts by showing you damaged books from the collection and explaining how a conservator decides what to fix, what to stabilize and what to leave alone, along with the common repairs that do more harm than good.

Then you work on your own practice book. You will clean pages with a soft eraser and brush, mend tears with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste, and reattach a loose board with a new hinge. You also build a simple archival box to store a fragile book at home.

Your day

1. 1:00 PM

   Assessing damage

   Examine damaged books from the collection and learn how a conservator decides on treatment.

   30 min

2. 1:30 PM

   Surface cleaning

   Dry-clean pages and covers with brushes and soft erasers.

   30 min

3. 2:00 PM

   Mending tears

   Mend page tears with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.

   45 min

4. 2:45 PM

   Rehinging a board

   Reattach a loose cover using a new cloth hinge.

   45 min

5. 3:30 PM

   Archival box and storage

   Build a simple protective box and learn how to store books at home.

What’s included

• Practice book and all archival materials
• Starter repair kit to take home
• Tea and cookies
• Printed book care guide

Good to know

• Guests work on practice books only. Rare editions from the collection are shown and handled only by Grace.
• Some dust and paste; wear clothes you do not mind getting a little messy.
• Suitable for ages 12+ with an adult.

Your curator

Grace HollowayMLIS, 15 years in libraries and book conservation

Grace Holloway worked as an academic librarian and rare book conservator before buying an old storefront and turning it into a member-supported library. The collection now holds about 18,000 volumes, including a small room of regional first editions. She runs it with two part-time staff and a crew of volunteers.