The two-year, comprehensive Bookbinding program teaches students how to make, restore, and preserve books and other printed treasures.
During the first year, you’ll learn the history and development of this traditional craft, as well as develop a host of necessary skills. You'll make a variety of historical and modern binding structures, boxes, and other protective enclosures. The repair of cloth and paper bindings will supplement your understanding of the way books function and break down.
Toward the end of the first year and throughout the second year you will create and repair leather bindings. During your second year, you'll have the opportunity to choose additional projects that reflect your personal career goals in conservation, fine binding, or other areas of the field. Additional learning takes place outside of the classroom — through exhibits, conferences, and field trips to binderies, historic collections, private studios, and conservation labs.
"As far as I know, the U.S. does not have any bookbinding programs like NBSS... a multiple year program, bench-oriented, and focused on craft."
Samuel Feinstein BB ’12
View More Bookbinding Alumni Profiles
North Bennet Street School recently hosted a special exhibition of exquisite hand-bound books made by students and alumni of the Bookbinding program. This unique gathering of work showcased the many talents of our diverse bookbinding community, and offered insight into the renowned program at NBSS. The thirty-five fine bindings were on view from March 28 to April 30, 2019.
Take a virtual tour of this shared bindery space located in Boston's historic Fort Point neighborhood. For NBSS grads Colin Hill Urbina BB '11, Erin Fletcher BB '12, Kate Levy BB '17, and Lauren Moon-Schott BB '13, it's a place to continue their training and develop creatively. Their individual binderies make up Third Year Studio, one of the neighborhood's last active workshops, and a reference to their shared background at the School's prestigious two-year bookbinding program.
WCVB-TV's CityLine featured NBSS in a segment that aired March 24, 2019. They interviewed two current students, Bookbinding student Sephora Bergiste BB '19 and Preservation Carpentry student and Carpentry graduate Diego Rojas CA '17, PC '19, as well as and NBSS President Sarah Turner during their visit to the School. Watch the full video here.
Bookbinder, collector, exhibit organizer, and philanthropist Louisa "Lisa" Hunnewell von Clemm was a supportive, encouraging member of the NBSS Board of Directors for over 25 years. Her considerable impact on the School continues to be felt in meaningful ways, including the new Lisa von Clemm Scholarship established this year in her memory. As an endowed, need-based fund intended specifically for Bookbinding students, it will ensure the program continues to thrive for years to come.
Todd Davis, a 2016 graduate of the Bookbinding program, was recently featured on the Western Avenue Studios Artist Association's blog. Western Avenue Studios offers work space to more than 280 artists in Lowell, Massachusetts. In addition to owning and operating his own bindery there, Todd also currently works part-time at the front desk here at the School.
Lori Foley BB '95, Administrator of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has charted what might be considered an unusual course: from training in the Bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School to leading the national effort on protecting cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies.