Office Supplies for School Library

July 29, 2021 11:22 AM

Cataloging, inventory, sorting-- all of that information is readily available... but what OFFICE SUPPLIES do libraries use? Are there certain brands or products (like non-acetone-free tape) that you avoid at all costs? I

I am in the process of assisting with building a library for a trade school. Mostly, a room of books has been available to students for years, but we would like to make it feel like a more legitimate resource and more appealing to our students.

Cataloging, inventory, sorting-- all of that information is readily available... but what OFFICE SUPPLIES do libraries use?

Will slapping some 3M labels on a dust jacket, running it through a laminator, and affixing it with packing tape to a hardcover book do the job?
Do you use peel-and-stick laminating tape on paperback books, or is it best to leave them untouched?
Are there certain brands or products (like non-acetone-free tape) that you avoid at all costs?


All dead-simple basic techniques and Captain Obvious recommendations are welcome, since I have only even been on the patron end of a library.

Thanks!

posted by smellyhipster to Education (6 answers total)

While I'm sure actual librarians will weigh in soon, there are library-specific supply companies like Demco (fka Gaylord) and Brodart that may give you some ideas.
posted by zamboni at 11:30 AM on July 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

I'm a librarian who has not spent terribly long in an actual library but agree with zamboni that Demco and Brodart give us a lot of our specific supplies. There are basically two, maybe three, kinds of things you'd use.

- general office stuff: more tape and post-its and good pens (they walk away!) and shipping tape and labels and a stapler, solid printer and laminator that kinds of thing. You can get this stuff at Staples. For a trade school library that should be mostly fine.
- patron-facing stuff: headphones and pencils/pens, scratch paper, little stands for putting things on or in. Worth asking local librarians where they get theirs, most state library associations will have mailing lists with friendly chatty librarians. Feel free to DM me for details on yours if you want.
- tech services stuff: spare CD/DVD cases, racks, shelving carts, book covering material, something to say "This book came from this library" barcodes specific to your ILS (integrated library system) if you have one, whatever you use to track checkouts (like maybe a printer but maybe a stamp in a book?), book repair stuff.

I work in a very small library and the only things we have that aren't just basic office supplies are the book trucks and the catalog stuff (a scanner for barcodes) and book covering stuff (we get this from Brodart, some people like to have a bone folder for nice creases)
posted by jessamyn at 12:56 PM on July 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

I work in a fairly large library, and we have more things that aren't just basic office supplies: RFID tags and readers and encoders (RFID also gets used for lots of logistics kinds of things, but not so much in offices), self-checkout kiosks, machines to re-surface optical media, microfilm/fiche equipment, etc. You probably don't need any of that stuff.

I suggest using covers like jessamyn linked to for hardbacks. You'll want a couple different sizes, and if you can get a dedicated table for processing, including racks for the covers and space to put packing tape (that's what you'll use to affix the plastic to the book) and X-Acto knife and scissors and whatnot, you'll have a much better experience.

For trade paperbacks and other larger softcover books, I suggest Filmolux--it's not the cheapest option, and it takes a little practice to get used to using it, but we've found nothing that preserves books better.

For smaller paperbacks and things printed on cheap paper, just put book tape (not Scotch magic tape or any other kind of tape) on the spine. It's usually the first thing to wear out. Again for emphasis: don't put any kind of tape but book tape on a book (it won't last as long or look as good). Don't put book tape on anything that isn't a book (it's more expensive than most other kinds of tape).

If you start doing mending, rather than just putting protective materials on undamaged items, you'll start to need some more stuff, like (examples) presses and repair materials (buy things as you need them, not a big set like that one).

If you're working with archival or other older materials, there's other stuff you might need. Gaylord and Brodart sell that stuff too, but I don't know as much about that side of things.
posted by box at 1:47 PM on July 29, 2021 [4 favorites]

Do you use peel-and-stick laminating tape on paperback books, or is it best to leave them untouched?

You can't leave them untouched or they'll start looking worn and bent WAY sooner than you think. I use peel-and-stick laminating tape - specifically, Demco CircExtender3X Laminate Vinyl Matte. Get a couple of sizes - you want to use laminating tape that's at least 2" taller than the books you're laminating. (You can fudge it a little, but you really don't want to go much shorter than 1" on all sides.)
posted by Jeanne at 2:21 PM on July 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

I am a school librarian, and also worked for years as a library paraprofessional, and helped reopen many school libraries. Demco is the big vendor for school libraries, and all of the stuff you listed that you will use are available as library supplies that are acid free- which is important for books that you hope to keep for a long time, but for a school library the books should be replaced before the issues surface. The other reason to order from a vendor like Demco, or Brodart (which Jessamyn linked) is that you can have them bill you- which means that you yourself aren't spending your own money on supplies However one think I would recommend for attaching book jackets to books is a "film-fiber tape" it has fiber through out it that makes it hard to slit either on purpose or through wear and tear.

Feel free to memail me with any other questions. I do have a list of supplies I recommend recently reopened libraries purchase.
posted by momochan at 7:46 PM on July 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

(Seconding the film-fiber tape rather than packing tape for taping covers to books. Libraries have a lot of different kinds of tape lying around, and I was momentarily confused.)
posted by box at 8:18 AM on July 30, 2021 [1 favorite]