Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network – Library Science Channel
Episode: Abigail Bainbridge, "Conservation of Books" (Routledge, 2023)
Date: December 28, 2025
Host: Jen Hoyer
Guests: Abigail Bainbridge (Editor, Book Conservator, Director at Bainbridge Conservation), Sonja Schwoll (Contributing Author, Head of Conservation and Treatment Development, National Archives UK)

Episode Overview

This episode features a deep dive into the creation and significance of Conservation of Books (Routledge, 2023), hailed as a groundbreaking, comprehensive reference on book conservation. Host Jen Hoyer speaks with editor Abigail (Abby) Bainbridge and contributing author Sonja Schwoll about the book’s conception, structure, relevance, and the ongoing evolution of book conservation as a global and collaborative field. The conversation highlights its role as both a reference work and a catalyst for debate in the profession, emphasizing inclusivity, ethical complexity, and the need for ongoing dialogue and documentation.

Guest Introductions & Backgrounds

[01:50 – 04:45]

• Abigail Bainbridge

  • Grew up near Baltimore, studied printmaking, letterpress, and bookbinding at Maryland Institute College of Art.
  • Discovered book conservation through a printer/conservator, then worked at Columbia University before moving to the UK for an MA at West Dean, where Sonja was her teacher.
  • Quote:

    “I met a book conservator who was also a printer and kind of learned that book conservation existed.” [03:15]

• Sonja Schwoll

  • From near Frankfurt, Germany; art history/history in Berlin, where materiality in art history ignited her interest in conservation.
  • Worked in antiquarian bookshops, then took an MA and trained in conservation in the UK.
  • Owns extensive experience in private practice, the US, and currently at the National Archives.
  • Quote:

    “With the MA in Art History [I] decided to go into conservation. ... And all this work led me then to the National Archives, where I’ve been head of Conservation Treatment Development for six years now.” [04:10]

The Book: Origins and Ambitions

[04:45 – 10:26]

• The motivation behind Conservation of Books stemmed from a gap in Routledge’s series for other specialisms; book conservation had not yet been covered due to the daunting scale of the subject.
• Abby was prompted by Routledge (after reviewing another book) to propose and ultimately edit this ambitious volume, which took a year to conceptualize.
• The volume is massive (approx. 300,000 words), features contributions from 70 experts across 19 countries, and aims for comprehensiveness by covering even niche and underrepresented areas.
• Quote:

  “I'm not sure why [the book didn’t exist before], except that it was just a hugely daunting prospect... It took me about a year to get a proposal in..." – Abigail Bainbridge [05:16]

Contributing, Chapter Development, and Decision-Making

[06:42 – 09:19]

• Sonja’s Contributions:
  • Chapters on stationary bindings (archival binding styles developed historically for important records) and on decision-making in binding repair.
  • Focus on the practicalities, ethics, and methodologies of when to intervene and how interventions are made—emphasizing case studies rather than prescriptive guidance.
  • Quote:

    “[Decision-making] gives you the whole spectrum of almost doing nothing or really doing interventive treatments ... represents how these thought processes are then working.” – Sonja Schwoll [07:52]

  • The decision-making chapter was particularly challenging due to the need for a nuanced, non-prescriptive approach.

Reference Work: Scope and Uniqueness

[09:19 – 13:44]

• Designed as a survey of everything known in the field up to 2023: “at least survey, if not go into all the details of everything that we could get in one place that’s known...” – Abigail Bainbridge [10:26]
• Bibliographies are broad and intended as starting points; chapters are unequal in size by design, some representing the most exhaustive coverage available on their topic.
• Responds to absence of a single-volume textbook for students and professionals.
• Entirely new in its collective, collaborative model (moving past the era of the discipline’s “single gurus”).
• Emphasizes the changing nature of expertise—many voices, not just one.
• Quote:

  “When I trained over 20 years ago, we had single individuals who were the researchers of the day ... This book really shows how it has changed and that we carry it together across age, countries..." – Sonja Schwoll [12:53] “I wanted a book to do that too, in the authorship ... newer voices get a chance to get out there and have just as much value to add.” – Abigail Bainbridge [13:44]

Encouraging Debate: Ethics and Evolving Practice

[14:01 – 17:27]

• Section 3, "Approaches to Conservation," leverages ongoing professional debates—the book does not prescribe so much as it exposes the reader to the thorny ethical issues and divergent viewpoints.
• The Florence Flood (1966) is referenced as a formative event for the book conservation field; practices have evolved since (from routine, interventive treatments to individualized, ethical decision-making centering on context, use, and the meaning of the object).
• Book conservation now addresses stakeholder input, diversity, and transparency.
• Quote:

  “There's an ethical framework, a decision making process, stakeholder input that we bring in to figure out for each book what the right thing is.” – Abigail Bainbridge [15:22] “I've always wanted to stress that there isn't one rule…There's a question of who you're saving it for…” – Abigail Bainbridge [15:22]

Contemporary Challenges: Sustainability, Value, and Inclusion

[17:27 – 20:29]

• Highlights the influence of world events, resource constraints, and changing attitudes toward sustainability.
• Raises the point that not every object will or should be conserved “forever”; shifting toward concepts like the “social book” and “social archive.” Use and perishability are now factors.
• Pressing questions include: Who is conservation for? How should value be allocated? How do conservators prioritize amid limited resources?
• Increasing awareness of the field’s “whiteness” and the impact of conservators’ decisions on the interpretation of collections.
• Quote:

  “Maybe it is for people to use the items... it might perish at some point and you need to make the decision and carry the risk…” – Sonja Schwoll [19:25] “It's a carrier of information... It's a carrier of the social history and economic history...” – Abigail Bainbridge [20:02]

Knowledge Sharing and Global Collaboration

[20:29 – 21:25]

• The importance of transparency and documentation of decision-making.
• Desire for increased knowledge sharing and better digital platforms for mutual learning and community growth in conservation.
• Quote:

  “We all know we work on the same things, we all know we face the same problems. We’re still not exchanging to the extent that would be really helpful..." – Sonja Schwoll [20:51]

Practical Guidance and "How-To" Tension

[21:25 – 26:40]

• Sections 4 and 5 (Preventative Conservation & Techniques of Conservation) are intentionally not exhaustive “how-to” manuals but offer frameworks and options for intervention.
• Striking a balance between providing enough information to guide responsible conservators and avoiding enabling amateurs to cause unintentional damage.
• Acknowledges the spectrum of acceptable practices globally; resists value-laden, prescriptive statements.
• Quote:

  “It was tricky to decide how much of the how-to stuff to include...In the end we did something kind of in the middle.” – Abigail Bainbridge [22:09] “There is by no means a recipe ... Conservation binding is the whole thought process around it that then ... will lead to this one particular solution for this specific item.” – Sonja Schwoll [23:54] “For every author that tried to write something like ‘we don't do this anymore’ ... there would be somebody else ... who’d say, ‘I don’t agree with that at all.’ ... There is no one right solution.” – Abigail Bainbridge [26:10]

Illustration and Visual Communication

[26:43 – 28:33]

• The book’s strong visual component: line drawings by Giorgios Boudalis (with support from Katerina Williams and Roger Williams) help clarify structures when photos aren’t enough.
• Visuals were essential due to a limited photograph budget and the challenge of consistency.
• Quote:

  "Giorgios Boudalis volunteered... to draw all of these really amazing line drawings, which ... allowed us to show so much more than we would have been able to otherwise.” – Abigail Bainbridge [27:01]

Impact and Future Directions

[28:33 – 31:16]

• The book has already spurred further professional events and symposia (e.g., at the National Archives, on stationary bindings) and inspired new research foundations.
• Abby's upcoming book will focus on plants used in bookbinding, collaboratively written with a botanist.
• Sonja is developing a knowledge database to record and exchange detailed descriptive conservation data, with the aim to share this platform internationally.
• Quote:

  “It already has created ... a foundation for more events around conservation, teaching, and studies.” – Sonja Schwoll [28:59] “The next book I’m working on is ... about the plants used in book binding…” – Abigail Bainbridge [29:27] “We’ll continue to create these forms [for describing bindings], and ... this will be shared ... across the UK [and] with partners in the States and other countries ...” – Sonja Schwoll [30:15]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the purpose of the book:

  “One of the primary goals was that it just at least survey, if not go into all the details of everything that we could get in one place that’s known, whether it’s already published or not...” – Abigail Bainbridge [10:26]

• On changing notions of expertise:

  “This book really shows how it has changed and that we carry it together across age, countries. People are from everywhere and any corner...” – Sonja Schwoll [12:53]

• On ethical complexity:

  “There isn't one rule. There's an ethical framework, a decision making process, stakeholder input ...” – Abigail Bainbridge [15:22]

• On the future of conservation:

  “We start more and more asking the questions ‘for who do we conserve?’ The concept of conserving our items forever is kind of subsiding...” – Sonja Schwoll [19:19]

• On the importance of transparency:

  “We need to make decisions and then just be transparent about them because everyone would make a different decision.” – Jen Hoyer [20:29]

Episode Timestamps: Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 01:27 | Guest introductions and career background (Abby/Sonja) | | 04:45 | Genesis and scale of the book project | | 06:42 | Sonja’s specific contributions; focus on decision-making & stationary bindings | | 09:19 | The book as a reference—scope, unique features, and intent | | 13:44 | Authorship model: inclusivity and expert diversity | | 14:34 | Book’s role in facilitating professional debate, changing norms | | 17:27 | Sustainability, value, prioritization in conservation | | 20:29 | Transparency, knowledge sharing, and digital platforms | | 21:25 | Practical sections: balancing “how-to” needs and caution | | 26:43 | The role of illustration and visual strategy | | 28:33 | Book’s impact, subsequent events, and future projects | | 29:27 | Abby’s next book on plants in bookbinding | | 30:15 | Sonja’s database/knowledge-sharing initiative |

Conclusion

This episode offers a rich, insider look at the philosophy, challenges, and relevance of Conservation of Books—a milestone resource in book conservation. Bainbridge and Schwoll underscore the field’s transition from individual expertise to collective, global knowledge-sharing, and from fixed rules to open debate and transparency. The discussion navigates ethical dilemmas, the tension between guidance and prescriptiveness, the increasing importance of digital platforms, and a future oriented toward both preservation and access.

The take-home: conservation is as much about thoughtful, context-sensitive decision-making as it is about repair; the field thrives on community, transparency, and a willingness to ask (and sometimes leave open) the difficult questions.