Do they still teach bookbinding?

It turns out they do.

When I think of trade schools, I think of HVAC repair, beauty schools, and auto mechanics. The North Bennet Street School of Boston Mass is a trade school of the classical genre. NBSS offers courses in bookbinding, furniture making, violin making, and piano technology. As an institution, NBSS has come to be one of the oldest and most respected trade schools in the country.

Here is a highlight from this article in Felt & Wire:

 “We’ve seen an interesting reaction to the rise in e-books and online publishing. There’s a heightened awareness of our work, both from people who are interested in doing it and from those who are interested in buying. People seem to have recently stopped taking physical books for granted — which might be a short-term phenomenon — as digital technology has come up. I sense a bit of a backlash — a renewed interest and appreciation of the higher end, in owning books that are of higher quality, a little better thought out, in terms of design or craft or both.” He adds, “Even Penguin Classics are beautiful right now, and I think that reflects demand. People don’t want throwaway — if it’s disposable, then electronic is fine. We’re definitely seeing people interested in taking care of their existing books — repair and conservation have been the main source of demand for bookbinding skills. We’re also seeing a growth in demand and interest in hand-bound books. I like to joke that nobody is ever going to say, ‘Oh look, here’s the Kindle that grandpa read during the war.’”

As bookbinders, this is what gets our hearts going, the inherent value of well-bound, beautiful books.

In addition to the article above, I recommend that anyone who is interested in the NBSS bookbinding program should check out Work of the Hand, a meticulous blog by current student, Henry Herbert.

For anyone local who is interested in hand-bookbinding classes, I teach those as well. In the beginner's class, we make a hardback book like this:

I also teach a coptic class:

Give me a call or send me an email to set up a private or group event.

The Blot Event

Hi All,

I just wanted to give a final plug for the Blot Event this Saturday (04.07) from 2-5 pm at the Provo Library. This event sponsored by K.Beck books and TM Publishing is in support of the local writing community. In addition to speakers, we'll be giving away journals, books, a kindle fire, and announcing the winner of the TM Publishing writing competition. Of course, there will be refreshments as well.

The event is open-house, so no need to come for the full 3 hours. If you aren't sure what time to come, here is a brief agenda:

• 2:15 - Welcome and Introduction
• 2:30 - Craft of Writing
• 3:00 - 1st round of Giveaways
• 3:15 - Book Design
• 3:45 - 2nd round of Giveaways
• 4:00 - Intro to Publishing
• 4:20 - 3rd round of Giveaways and Contest Winners

Free gifts for the first 150 people to arrive. Hope to see you there!

Kelcie

Ladies Night!

Every 6 months, Roberts Crafts hosts a Ladies Night event at all of their stores. On October 2nd (this Saturday!), I'll be at the Orem Roberts location doing a demonstration, assembling make-and-takes, and giving away coupons to my class.

All of the class instructors will be there doing demos and having a ball. Roberts will be doing lots of give-aways including Cricut Cartridges, scrapbook supplies, and of course, the raffle.

Hope to see you there!

New Blog!

Welcome to my blog at K.Beck books! The new home for all of my bookbinding projects and events. I would be thrilled to have your feedback, suggestions, and comments.

Without further ado, a little about my most recent project. Kits!

I teach an intro to bookbinding course at the Orem Roberts Crafts location on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month. I supply all of the materials for the class which means making a whole bunch of bookbinding kits. So for the past several days, I have been cutting, punching, cutting some more and taping up my fingers. Cutting the paper isn't so bad, but the binder's board is killer. In the end it's all worth it for these lovely little kits.

Bookbinding kits include everything needed to make a 4x6 hardback book like the one we make in class. Soon (meaning as soon as I get the technical instructions finished) they will also be for sale on my website. So you can give bookbinding a whirl at home before you decide whether you want to jump in for good.

Of course, I want to give credit to Josh and Jenna Gubler who have done all of the photography for my website and promotional materials. They are incredibly talented and always on the ball. Check out their website at JGublersphotography.com