Photo by Greg Barnette / Record Searchlight

Bette and Wally Haas mend books last Friday at the Redding Library. The two volunteer two to three days a week to repair old and worn-out books. “If we’re going to give our time, it must be for something as worthwhile as this,” Haas said.

Books are lined up on a shelf at the Redding Library.

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Side by side at two tables, Bette and Wally Haas talk companionably as they mend and clean books. The couple, married 32 years, have always enjoyed working together.

Before they retired and moved to Redding, Bette and Wally commuted to the same company, where Bette worked in personnel and Wally as an architect.

"We would use the commute to work to organize our days," Wally said, "and during the commute home, we would digest what happened. That way when we walked in the door, we could leave work behind."

When they decided to leave work behind for good, Bette and Wally knew they wanted a change from Southern California and decided to explore Northern California. After several visits by train to Redding, they found their new home and relocated to the area in 1994.

Through their real estate agent, Bette and Wally joined Friends of Shasta County Libraries and have been volunteers at the library for the past 14 years.

Betty and Wally said they chose the library because they wanted to do positive work and the library at that time was in extreme need.

"The library had been closed and it was very short on staff," Bette said.

They started as "shelvers" - people who put the books back on the shelf. But soon, Bette found that she had a calling for mending books and Wally liked being a "reader." A reader is the person who reads the shelves and ensures that the books are in the proper order. It also allowed him to align the books so that they were in precisely flush rows.

"That's the architect in him," Bette said.

The couple now spend a minimum of six hours a week at the library mending and cleaning the books. They estimate that they tend to about 300 books a month, with the goal of returning them to the shelves as soon as possible.

The No. 1 problem is broken spines, a malady that Bette attributes to poor glue.

"When you open a book and hear a popping sound, that's a sign of bad glue," she said. The result is that pages break away from the spine.

"Most of the Harry Potter books have been repaired because of poor glue," she said. The thickness of those books puts even more stress on the spine.

To counteract the problem, Bette said that she uses high-quality glue when she works. She carefully glues the pages in place and then wraps giant rubber bands around the book to hold the pages secure until they are dry.

Bette also checks the books for torn pages, which she mends with "dull scotch tape." If pages have been folded, she will often iron the creases. Then they are turned over to Wally.

"We work as a team," Bette said.

Wally cleans the sides of the book, by using sandpaper to buff off the soiled edges. The process produces another benefit. "It also evens out the pages," Wally said. Often it's impossible to insert newly glued pages exactly into the spine, so the sanding eliminates any irregularities.

It's also Wally's job to clean the plastic book covers or replace them if necessary. Both Bette and Wally want the books to appear as fresh as possible when they are placed back on the shelves. Sometimes Bette even colors the hard edges of the book to cover grime.

Behind Bette's work table, there are shelves lined with books in varying stages of repair. And there is always a fresh crop of books to evaluate.

When asked if there was one particular genre that needed mending more often, Bette said "fiction and children's books."

The books that most concern her are older books. "Our World War II books are very popular, but very worn. I feel a call to keep things that can't be replaced."

The most difficult books to mend are "graphic novels for teens." The comic-book style paperbacks come apart easily and their pages aren't numbered. Sometimes Bette must read the entire book to reorder the pages.

As for what the public can do to take care of their books - those they borrow from the library and those they own themselves - treat them gently. "Don't lay the book down face open," Bette said, "because that puts a strain on the spine."

She also asks that if a patron checks out a book and notices a problem, a note should be left in the book so it can be immediately corrected to prevent further deterioration.

Bette is reluctant to give any other admonitions. "Really, we just want people to enjoy the books," she said.

Just as she enjoys mending them and Wally enjoys cleaning them.

Bette, 77, and Wally, 79, have no plans to give up their book work any time soon.

"I'll go as long as I can," said Bette.

Her fellow volunteers hope so as well. Every Wednesday, she brings in batches of homemade cookies. It has become a tradition.

Debra Moore is a freelance writer who lives in Redding. She can be reached at mooredebra13@yahoo.com.