After months and years of use and abuse, many soft cover library books eventually begin to fall apart. Often the covers of the books begin to separate from the book blocks on these books. Fortunately, there is a new simple way to repair these books using a thermal binding machine.

Many soft cover books can be easily repaired using a thermal binding machine. If the book has begun to come apart and there is plenty of glue left in the spine you can simply place the soft cover book into your thermal binding machine and re-heat it. The thermal binding machine will reheat the glue from the spine allowing the cover of the book to bond with the book block to the cover. After the book is heated and the glue is soft simply drop the book onto the counter to ensure that the book block is settled securely in the glue and let the book cool.

In most cases simply reheating the book is enough to reattach the cover to the book block. However, occasionally there is not enough glue remaining on the book block to secure it to the cover of the book. To repair your book in this situation, it is necessary to use a thermal binding glue strip. These glue strips come in 1 inch widths and twelve inch lengths and can be easily cut with a pair of scissors to fit inside the detached spine of your book. After cutting the glue strip to the correct width and length and inserting it into your cover, simply reinsert the book block and drop the book into your thermal binding machine. The thermal binding machine will melt the glue and adhere the book block to the cover. Just drop the heated book onto the counter and let it cool on the cooling rack of your thermal binding machine.

The best machine for repairing your trade paperbacks is the Coverbind 5000 which can bind books up to 2” thick. Most other thermal binding machines such as the GBC T100 or the BindIt Perfect Bind II will only bind books up to 1” thick and many trade paper backs are thicker than this. Additionally, the heaters in the Coverbind 5000 binding machine are designed to get hotter than the heaters in most other thermal systems. This makes the Coverbind 5000 better suited for reheating the glue that is originally used to bind most trade paper backs.

The Coverbind 5000 costs less than $700 is smaller than a laser printer (only 16.5” x 9.25” x 8.75”) and at only 7.5 lbs it can easily be stored when it is not in use. The Coverbind 5000 can be used to repair books, bind soft cover books, bind hard cover books and can pay for itself several times over by prolonging the life of your books. The Coverbind 5000 comes with a 1 year warranty, requires no maintenance and is safe and easy to use. Every library should consider owning one.

Additionally, the Coverbind 5000 Thermal binding machine can be used to help extend the life of all of the new trade paperback books that your library purchases. Check out our recent article on extending the life of your trade paperback books using your thermal binding machine.


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