[padg] Deferred binding--best practices.

["R.M.G." <rossaroni_g@xxxxxxxxx>]

Recent threads have discussed the issue of deferring binding for paperback items until they have circulated a few times. 

Is anybody aware of any studies or statistics that indicate how many circulations the average paperback can withstand unbound? Obviously, there many factors to consider here, but discounting oversize, spiral bound or other unusual bindings or styles, I'd like to settle on an "ideal" circulation number that best balances binding budgets with preservation needs--this might be one circulation or five. 

I haven't yet been able to uncover any articles or recommendations that deal with this directly. Any observations? 

Ross