Why I bind

I finally got my etsy shop up and mostly operable. I still have a few kinks to work out. 

Although I have a short "about" page on the shop, I wanted to expound a little bit on how I got started bookbinding and why I bind. 

I've always loved books. Looking back on my childhood, there are little influences here and there that all culminate in my everlasting love for books. The Pagemaster, Inkheart, books on how to make books... The same is true for my love of genealogy too, but that's maybe a post for another day. 

My first actual exposure into bookbinding was really a matter of being in the right place at the right time. It was the end of my second year at college and I was working at the library. One of my classmates had taken the bookbinding class offered on campus, which is incredibly difficult to get into, as there are only 2 classes of 18 at a university of ~30,000 students. She told me that she had just emailed the teacher, showed up the first day, and got into the class. She encouraged me to email him, but said I most likely wouldn't hear back from him until I showed up at the class. So I did. 

Turns out, the teacher of the bookbinding class also happened to be the head conservator at the book conservation lab at the library. That was a cool coincidence, I thought, as I was interested in art conservation. So, I emailed him, not expecting, as my coworker had said, to hear back from him. 

Within five minutes I had an email in my inbox. He invited me to come visit him in the lab and chat for a few minutes and he would give me an add code for the class. 

A few minutes turned into a few hours. Two hours later, I walked out of his office with an add code and a possible internship. Internship turned into job and I worked in the lab (and as the bookbinding TA) for the rest of my college career.

Anyway, I digress. That's how I was formally introduced to bookbinding. 

If you know me at all, or have read any of the posts on this blog, or even read this post this far, then you know that I love books. I love all things about books. I love their contents, but I also love the physical object of the book. I really love old books, because of the history their pages contain. But I love new books because of their potential. Because of the opportunity of creating a history for the book. That's part of why I love bookbinding, because I have a personal and arguably very important hand in future history of that book. 

And you, reader, have a little piece of history with every book you have. And you add to the history of every book you have  every time you open it, read it, write in it, share it with someone you love. 

I also bind as an expression of my faith and love of my Heavenly Father. He is the ultimate creator. Although I may not be able to create beautiful world upon worlds as He has, I can create and spread little pieces of beauty through my books. 

So live in the present and create history with a book in your hand.