Bookbinding & Beyond at the North Bennet Street School

The North Bennet Street School, founded in 1881 and located in Boston, offers vocational training in a

variety of crafts including a two year bookbinding program. Sandra Haynes, who knew of the school from a relative who had graduated in the 2000’s, decided to enroll herself in the bookbinding program after a decade of self-instruction and making her own diaries. 

“I learned all I could from books and I really needed a teacher,” she said. 

After a long career as an accountant and textile designer, Haynes decided to invest further into her personal passion of artistic craftsmanship. She is currently in her second year of the program which is composed of a diverse group of students with a wide range of age and previous life experience. Similar to trade school training, there are no separate courses but rather two, year long intensives, one focusing on the basics of bookbinding, the other on advanced bookbinding. 

Haynes shares that she is in the bindery at her workbench during the week from 8am to 3pm under the

instruction of Martha Kearsley and department head, Jeff Altepeter. In the bindery, Haynes said that they learn everything from modern case bindings to fine leather bindings, gold tooling, paper repair, book repair, re-bindings, conservation boxes and more. Students also learn about the history of bookbinding, learning through constructing their own models based on old books. 

“Everything is hand sewn,” Haynes said. 

If you would like to learn more about the North Bennet Street School’s bookbinding program, come chat with Sandra Hayes at the Northampton Book Fair in the Community Arts Trust the 22nd and 23rd of November located at 33 Hawley Street. 

Written by Cassandra Mayer - October 18th, 2024