But the bindings on three of the four volumes are fraying.<\/p>\n
Repairing them will be costly \u2013 probably more than $30,000 each. They have appeared in Duke University Libraries\u2019 Adopt-a-Book Program<\/a> since the program began in 2013, but so far, no one has stepped forward yet to sponsor their care and fund the essential repairs.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got something that valuable where the boards are coming off and the spine\u2019s coming off, it just feels like you should get it fixed and take care of it,\u201d said Beth Doyle, Head of Duke University Libraries\u2019 Conservation Services Department.<\/p>\n So, it remains on the list, waiting for a benevolent adopter.<\/p>\n In the 12 years since Doyle started Duke Libraries\u2019 Adopt-a-Book Program, more than 200 books have been \u201cadopted,\u201d raising about $150,000 to restore rare books or other treasures in the Libraries\u2019 collection, or to purchase conservation supplies beyond the operating budget.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been adopted by fellow Libraries staff members, Duke employees, alums and just fans of the library. Books range from $25 to that $30,000 price tag, and each comes with an electronic book plate listing the adopter in the item\u2019s catalogue record. An exhibit<\/a> about the program is on display through Feb. 6 in the Rubenstein Library.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had some amazing things be adopted through the program,\u201d Doyle said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool because now that thing is repaired and can be made available for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Video by Travis Stanley<\/p>\n Where the magic happens<\/p>\n In the basement of Perkins Library, Rachel Penniman and Henry Hebert are on the Libraries team tasked with bringing damaged library items back to life. Hebert, a Conservator for Special Collections, and Penniman, a Conservation Specialist, work with Senior Conservator for Special Collections Erin Hammeke and Doyle to make repairs and enclosures for anything in the collection that has begun to degrade. The value of their work is highlighted in October, American Archives Month.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what we do is trying to keep things as good as we can for as long as we can,\u201d Penniman said.<\/p>\n They have specialized knowledge of how to wash paper in books, how to repair bindings that are hundreds of years old and how to find unique tools that will help them make tiny fixes.<\/p>\n Penniman has repurposed old dental tools for their delicate precision and recently bought a heating pad made for reptile enclosures when she needed a large, heated surface where she could perform mends. The conservation supplier charged hundreds for a similar product that she duplicated in a $20 creative Amazon order.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause conservation is such a small field, we poach tools and supplies from other larger disciplines,\u201d Penniman said. \u201cI’m always ordering stuff online.\u201d<\/p>\n Most recently, Penniman repaired the delicate silk hinge threads binding a photo album from the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans family papers, and Hebert restored a German physician\u2019s handwritten book from the 1630s that had been patched overzealously with tape in the 1970s. Tape is the enemy of conservators.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t stay on the way you want it to, and then it\u2019s a pain to take off,\u201d Hebert said. \u201cIt takes a tremendous amount of time to remove it.\u201d<\/p>\n A new item recently arrived in Special Collections in a shoe box: a Blue Devil doll from the 1930s made by Steiff<\/a>, a renowned toy manufacturer of Teddy bears. A twin to the new Blue Devil is already in the collection<\/a>, but is so damaged that its wax face is melted to distortion. The newer Blue Devil is unblemished.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate that they put him in a box to take care of him, but we can\u2019t leave him in a shoe box,\u201d Penniman said. \u201cWe need to put him in something longer lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Devil doll is expected to be available for adoption on the Adopt-a-Book page<\/a> soon to fund his new, permanent enclosure home.<\/p>\n The gift for someone who has everything<\/p>\n Dracine Hodges has had her eye on \u201cThe Illustrated Language of Flowers<\/a>.\u201d The \u201cvery small and fragile\u201d book was published in 1862 and includes colorful images and text that needs a new custom enclosure to protect it. Hodges, Associate University Librarian, is astonished that no one has yet adopted the little flower book available for $50.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to adopt it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hodges has already adopted four books through the Adopt-a-Book Program: Two novels by African American science fiction author Octavia Butler in memory of former Duke colleague Sara Seten Berghausen<\/a>, a set of volumes originally bound by a pioneering female book binder, more Octavia Butler books for herself, and a 1965 copy of \u201cDune.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I had just watched the movie and was getting into it, so I said, \u2018Oh, this is cool,\u2019\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n \u201cAdopting\u201d a book helps it live on by supporting the library and also \u201cmarks it as a thing that meant something to you,\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n In that way, it can be a gift for that person who has everything. It\u2019s often provided as a Duke retirement gift by colleagues, Hodges said, or made in a loved one\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows that this is important or has been impactful to the reader or the person who\u2019s being honored,\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n Doyle rotates a variety of books and items at a range of price points on the Adopt-a-Book website<\/a>, and also takes special requests from the millions of books and items housed and cared for by Duke Libraries. The adoption options are plentiful \u2013 including those Audubon books that are still available.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes me very happy to be able to showcase some of this work and make connections with people who love the library as much as I do,\u201d Doyle said.<\/p>\n Send story ideas, shout-outs and photographs through\u00a0our story idea form<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0write\u00a0working@duke.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Working@Duke on\u00a0X (Twitter)<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe on\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\nA Blue Devil doll from the 1930s needs a better enclosure than the shoebox it arrived in, and will be available in the Adopt-a-Book program. Photo by Travis Stanley<\/p>\n
Rachel Penniman shows off repairs she made to the binding on a photo album from the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans family papers. Photo by Travis Stanley<\/p>\n
Henry Hebert works on a German physician’s book from 1630. Photo by Travis Stanley<\/p>\n
Dracine Hodges<\/p>\n