Looking at the Long-Run.

As the new president of the Library Binding Institute one tends to become somewhat reflective of the accomplishments of the previous holders of this title, as well as philosophical about the deeper purposes of this small but vibrant trade association. As the time of my presidency approached, I thought long and hard about what the theme of my term should be. What did I want to accomplish during my two years? What was it possible for me to leave behind as my legacy? After much soul searching and countless conversations with colleagues and friends, the answer seemed obvious.

My primary duty as president of the Library Binding Institute is to promote the principles that are the foundation of the library binding industry. To establish and promote specifications for the products binders sell, to certify member companies as being able to comply with those specifications, to develop programs that encourage more efficient production and management of the bindery, and to build strong links to the customers of library binders. I believe that some of these principles have been neglected in recent years. It is my goal to reestablish consensus and support for this program. Realistically, I know this will require a long-term effort involving the participation of many competing interests. Nevertheless, I am committed to promoting a program that serves the common good and emphasizes the importance of LBI to all binders, librarians and vendors to our industry.

The many conflicting pressures that business owners face include: developing and producing high-quality products; maintaining high standards of customer service; attracting, motivating and retaining talented staff; financing and managing growth and change within an organization; and marketing the company's services to a demanding clientele. An examination of this list reveals the obvious conclusion that a chief executive must concentrate his or her efforts on maximizing the profitability of the company.

As an economics major I learned that there are many dimensions to an econometric model. There are short-term and long-term targets as well as micro-economic and macro-economic issues. In my opinion most library binders, like many north American business managers, concentrate the bulk of their efforts on what might be described as short-term and micro-economic issues. Staying on schedule in terms of meeting promised delivery dates of completed bindery shipments. Balancing the flow of incoming work and staffing so that all employees can work full shifts but not be required to work unreasonable amounts of overtime. Maintaining quality in an environment where people get sick, take vacations, and have family obligations; where machinery breaks down, needs maintenance, or seems too expensive to cost-justify purchasing; where labor rates are at the lower end of the manufacturing industry's spectrum; where prices reflect competitive constraints rather than real costs; and where orders can never be delivered incomplete or late. Living with the discipline that the payroll must always be paid each week, that vendor bills must be paid within terms for your company to demand and get the kind of service that you require, and that customers often do not pay your invoices within the terms agreed upon. In simple terms the pressure to remain solvent and to stay busy forces many binders to neglect the long-term. Besides, everyone knows that there is always another tomorrow but once today ends--it is gone forever.

If you accept this analysis, it becomes clear that the LBI has a vital role to play in the library binding industry. Although the LBI has as its primary mission, "to enhance the profitability of member companies", it has the luxury of taking the long-term approach. Programs that affect the health of the industry or that stress the importance of quality products such as helping to underwrite the cost of the Library of Congress video on Library Binding or writing updated industry specifications for the Library Binding Institute Standard for Library Binding have no immediate impact--but are essential.

I would like to clarify and perhaps justify the reasoning that places so much attention on the profitability of library binding companies. Since libraries, who are the primary customers of library binders, are not-for-profit organizations, it seems avaricious for binders to focus primarily on profit in running their companies. In a capitalist society, however, profit is the reward that entices entrepreneurs to strive for quality products, superior service, excellent staff, improved production efficiency, and lower unit-cost. No company can exist for long or thrive if it is not profitable. You cannot afford to do business with an unprofitable company because it is often forced to cut corners, (no pun intended). Profit is the score card that separates unsuccessful, backward companies from progressive, dynamic companies. Profits are bad only if they are undeserved or if they are not plowed back into the business to enable a continuing stream of future profits.

Whereas most binders focus their marketing efforts on why a customer should use the services of their company, the LBI focuses its energy on building and nurturing the entire market for library binding. Because the LBI has no direct economic link with the marketplace it assumes a greater dignity and credibility in the customer's eyes. This impartial, big-brother/sister role enables the LBI to succeed in tasks that benefit everyone but that no individual company could accomplish on its own.

In order to understand the LBI, one must know who the members of the LBI are. Members include certified library binders located in the United States and Canada (40 bindery plants are currently certified); associate members include vendors of covering materials, binder's board, adhesives, endpapers, machinery, machine parts, and other supplies/services (14 vendors are associate members); certified institutional members include government and university binderies (4 institutional plants are currently certified); certified international members include binders located outside of the United States and Canada (8 international plants are certified); institutional members include libraries (8 in total); and honorary members include significant members of the binding community that have retired but remain interested in our activities (we now have 2 such members).

This diverse group includes many talented individuals that share one common characteristic--they are all very busy in the daily activities of their respective companies. Collectively they represent a pool of concerned, knowledgeable professionals that can give their time and expertise to benefit the industry from which they gain their livelihood. These potential volunteers have a vested interest in acting for the common good of the industry. The LBI gives these individuals an opportunity to discharge their professional responsibilities in a way that could be compared to fulfilling one's civic responsibility to a town or community.

All binders and all organizations that derive their income from the business of library binding have a professional obligation to support the trade association that serves their industry. To do otherwise, is to be a free-loader or a bad citizen of the library community. Some members discharge their responsibility merely by paying their dues, displaying the seal of the LBI, complying with the rules of membership, and reading the literature the LBI distributes. Other members take an active role in shaping the evolution of the trade association and the industry. These members collectively tackle difficult issues such as: how to collect adequate dues income to carry out effective programs, planning twice a year meetings that will be instructive as well as thought provoking, evaluating the make-up of the LBI Standard, and avoiding anti-competitive issues regarding member companies. These efforts are often unrewarded, unrecognized, and underappreciated, but they are the lifeblood of a successful trade association.

The talented staff of the Library Binding Institute can only carry out the policies and programs that the membership approves through its board of directors. In recent years their accomplishments have been many. I will save these for a future article. Nevertheless, the needs of our members and our customers do not stand still and we must constantly move ahead to address those changing needs. For this reason the LBI must continue to take the long-term approach in enlisting energetic volunteers and in undertaking projects that are too big, too political, or too uncertain for individual companies to consider. We cannot all be experts on every subject, participants on every committee, or supporters of every worthwhile cause. But we must all do our part--and carry our share of the responsibility that professional citizenship demands. Those who look to others to do the work while they sit back and criticize the status quo are guilty of short-term, parochial myopia. Through the LBI, members can be involved in the larger picture of an industry that needs to be dynamic to survive.

The LBI is an engine for managing, directing, and creating change. As quoted in my article in the June issue of the New Library Scene, "It is our chief task to control that change through rational and constructive efforts." If the LBI did not exist, we would have to create it. Since it does exist, we are foolish not to make it flourish for the greatest advantage to our customers, our companies, and our industry. This requires commitment from individuals that understand that a healthy community is a prerequisite for a successful business. If binders want to succeed as individual companies, they must contribute to the overall strength and vitality of the LBI.

I have often heard the complaint that the LBI does nothing to justify the high dues that membership requires. In a democratic society, citizens are required to pay taxes. In the binding community, regretfully, non-LBI binders are not required to pay dues to get the benefits of the programs that the LBI initiates or supports. Those that do not pay are taking unfair advantage of their customers and of the companies that do support the library binding industry. All librarians should ask their non-LBI binders to explain why they should be exempt from supporting their industry. And all librarians should ask their binders what they are doing to promote the LBI and all that it stands for. I believe strongly that all those who benefit from this industry have a professional obligation to do much more than pay dues to a trade association. They should accept their share of the responsibility for tending to the long-term health and success of the industry.

What is the LBI? It is an opportunity for individuals with a vested interest in their personal success to work for the long-term, common good of their industry. Supporting the LBI is common sense, and good business. Working to make the LBI a more useful, better appreciated trade association can be compared to working to keep the environment clean. You may not see the short-term benefits, but you and your heirs will certainly regret the long-term consequences of complacency.

Paul Parisi, President
Acme Bookbinding

This paper first appeared in:
The New Library Scene
Vol. 10, No. 4, August 1991