Overheard a binder at a coffee shop saying glue is cheating

I was grabbing a latte near my place in Austin last weekend and I overheard this older guy talking to his friend about bookbinding. He said something like "real binders sew everything, glue is just for lazy people." And idk, it kind of stuck with me because I use glue all the time for my text blocks and spines. I mean I get that traditional sewing has its place, but does using glue really make me less of a binder? I'm not trying to win some purity contest, I just want my books to hold up and look nice. Has anyone else run into this gatekeepy attitude or is it just my luck?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel_young9d ago

Funny how everything has to be a purity test these days isn't it

dianagreen9d ago

joel_young just nailed it. Purity tests are everywhere now and it's exhausting. You can't like a band, a movie, or even a type of coffee without someone jumping in to say you're not doing it right. It's like everyone forgot that enjoying something imperfect is part of being human. You either have to be 100 percent in or you're the enemy, and that's just not how people work. We all have messy, conflicting tastes and that should be okay.