Library binding can be divided into the two major categories of "original" and "after market". The original category is as it says: the book was originally bound with the idea that it would be used in a library setting where the book would receive harder use than those usual trade editions sold to the public.
Buckram variety swatches that can be used to cover books.
The buckram used to cover library bound books comes in a variety of colors.
Library-bound volumes in wooden bookcases
Preservation (library and archive)
In conservation, library and archival science, preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as few changes as possible. Preservation activities vary widely and may include monitoring the condition of items, maintaining the temperature and humidity in collection storage areas, writing a plan in case of emergencies, digitizing items, writing relevant metadata, and increasing accessibility. Preservation, in this definition, is practiced in a library or an archive by a conservator, librarian, archivist, or other professional when they perceive a collection or record is in need of maintenance.
National Bureau of Standards preserving the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1951
Preservation and recording of magnetic tapes at Fonoteca Nacional (National Sound Archive of Mexico)
The Flickr user describes an incident of putting a banana stained book in their backpack and leaving it for a couple weeks with this result.
Worn books at the library of Merton College, Oxford
