Library Bindery Services is celebrating the completion of 100 years of service to the University Libraries. Established in March, 1908, the department has acted as a key library partner to provide high quality, cost effective book binding and collection maintenance services. 

The Library Bindery was established on the Berkeley campus in March, 1908 to provide collection maintenance and bookbinding services for the Library’s rapidly growing print collections. The original department staff was comprised of book menders and book binders which were housed in the basement of the Library. It quickly became apparent that the space available in the Library would be insufficient to support the growing service demands so the department was transferred to the University’s Printing Department the following year.

 

Over the years the department has continuously evolved to meet the objective of consistently providing the high levels of service and quality demanded by the University of California libraries. Over the years as the U. C. System grew, so did Library Bindery Services. In the years immediately following World War II, demand for services in the Southern California led to the formation of a second production facility. Both facilities continued to meet the Libraries’ needs as the System continued to expand to its current ten campus configuration. In 2006, the two production facilities were consolidated at the department’s current location in Oakland.

 

The department occupies over 13,000 sq. feet of active production space, staffed by experienced bookbinders and provides a wide range of bookbinding and collection maintenance products & services. Modern, cutting edge binding equipment blends with skilled staff to annually produce over 200,000 cost effective, high-quality, durable and attractive bindings for circulation.

 

The department is a Certified Institution Member of the Library Binding Institute. Certified members must pass a rigorous inspection to insure that the materials and processes used in production meet all the provisions established in the NISO/ANSI/LBI National Standard for Library Binding.