Nicole Leconte -Founder, Book Person

For years, I have been “moonlighting” books as a hobby and after-work part-time gig. I have a particular affection for a bibliographic study of the factors that contribute to a book's creation, both physical and sociological. Reading books just became more enjoyable when I learned how to work with them as objects too.

The journey started with a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Trinity University in San Antonio, where I was first introduced to working with book and paper objects through a bookbinding course.

I caught the book bug hard and went on to earn my Master’s of Science in Information Studies with a certificate of specialization in Curation and Preservation from the University of Texas at Austin in the Spring of 2019. Since then, I developed my skills further during my time working as a paper conservation technician at Carrabba Conservation. There, I had the amazing opportunity to treat and process an abundance of archival and historical documents.

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Keep your history,

safely bound.

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There is a philosophy of book reading and bookbinding that puts the highest value on the text of the book; the information inside being what’s worth saving. However, I’m an absolute fiend for covers. Binding styles have gone through their own trends and evolutions. Books have been held by so many hands. Ephemera caught within their pages and bookplates on their endsheets link us directly to the past. I err against erasing any of this evidence.

Coming from a conservation background, I work to save as much of the original material as I can in an effort to stabilize the book, prevent further damage, and save all of the fascinating history that has travelled with this item.

I believe that everything has some value - not just objects with high financial value or pieces that live in museums and archives. There is an element of sentimental value that can make something unique and irreplaceable. It is all worth saving, whether for yourself or the future. If it is important to you, it is important to me and I aim to treat it accordingly.