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In our class, Megan Mulder and I attempt to describe how books developed through time. However, we do tend to focus on the “Hand Press” period (1450-1800) where movable type and manual presses began to replace handwritten texts. Megan’s lectures follow this process, and I teach labs which are meant to reinforce the development of... Continue reading “LIB260-History of Material Texts – Papermaking” ›
On October, 26, 2025, I taught a Book Repair Workshop in Boone, NC at the Watauga County Public Library. This library is nice architecturally, with a mountain feel, and inside it has a number of great resources. In the restrooms, they have a good supply of all sizes of disposable diapers. They really care about... Continue reading “Book Repair Workshops in Boone and Goldsboro” ›
Shepard Memorial Library, Greenville, NC. Photo by Lauren Clossey, NC State Library Book Repair. It’s become an important calling for me, and something I am passionate about. The week of June 16-20, I taught book repair workshops in Greenville (Shepard Memorial Public Library), Hillsborough (Orange County Public Library), and Asheville (Enka-Candler Public Library). Library staff... Continue reading “Craig Crosses Carolina” ›
I was fortunate to teach a book repair workshop for The Society of North Carolina Archivists (SNCA) on March 6. The workshop was held in the Preservation lab, part of their Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina State University in D. H. Hill Library in Raleigh. I co-taught with my friend and colleague, Robin... Continue reading “Society of North Carolina Archivists Book Repair Workshop” ›
Imagine putting paint on a surface where it floats until is is manipulated with combs of various sizes to create elaborate designs. The paint floats on this surface until a sheet of paper is placed on it, and the elaborate design is transferred to the paper. This essentially is marbling. I was fortunate to take... Continue reading “Marbling-on-Paper Workshop” ›
I attended back-to-back workshops on leather bookbinding from March until June of this year. These workshops were taught remotely by Karen Hanmer, a gifted binder from Chicago. The first sessions in March were set aside for learning to use the tools to thin leather. The sessions in April, May and June were devoted to making... Continue reading “Leather Bookbinding Workshops” ›
This spring, I spent a week traveling from east to west across North Carolina teaching book repair at public libraries. I visited libraries in Burgaw (Pender County), Burlington (Alamance County) and Shelby (Cleveland County). The attendees are always fun and their questions come tumbling out throughout the day. Public libraries have few resources and little... Continue reading “Spring Book Repair Workshops” ›
The Stars and Stripes is the primary news source for the US military. It was published during World War I (1914-1918) and then, continuously since World War II. A donation to Special Collections and Archives was made which consisted of a group of cartoons from World War I. The WWI newspaper was published in France... Continue reading “Conservation of World War I Cartoons” ›
I recently taught three workshops, in the east, central and western areas of North Carolina. I hadn’t taught in person since March, 2020 and it was good to get back in the saddle. It always amazes and encourages me how hungry librarians are for this information about repairing their books. I guess we all want... Continue reading “East to West Book Repair Workshops” ›
On April 24th at Archdale Public Library and April 25th at Sheppard Memorial Library in Greenville , I taught back-to-back book repair workshops. These workshops are sponsored by the North Carolina State Library and are funded using LSTA Grant funding. The participants are primarily from public libraries and are eager for any knowledge they can... Continue reading “Spring 2019 Book Repair Workshops” ›