Few outlets for book repair, but customers still want nostalgia preserved

The old family Bible sitting on a table in a back room of The Tattered Page is more aptly described as a stack of torn paper than a book.

More than half of its cover is missing, and what’s left has come undone. Pages are marked with wear, and some are ripped, leaving behind long, jagged lines.

Pamela McNaughton, the owner of this shop on South First Street in Mount Vernon, said some of her customers’ books are easy to repair. For quick jobs, like books that just need a little glue, she said she may spend more time waiting for them to dry then doing actual repairs.