Summary Report for:
51-5012.00 - Bookbinders
Perform highly skilled hand finishing operations, such as grooving and lettering to bind books.
Sample of reported job titles:
Book Binder, Bookbinder, Bindery Worker, Book Conservator, Custom Bookbinder, Hand Bookbinder
Tasks | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment
Tasks
- Perform highly skilled hand finishing operations, such as grooving and lettering, to bind books.
- Cut binder boards to specified dimensions, using board shears, hand cutters, or cutting machines.
- Cut cover material to specified dimensions, and fit and glue material to binder boards manually or by machine.
- Establish production procedures based on job orders.
- Place bound books in presses that exert pressure on covers until glue dries.
- Glue outside endpapers to covers.
- Trim edges of books to size, using cutting or book trimming machines or hand cutters.
- Repair, restore, and rebind old or damaged books, including rare books.
- Apply glue to backs of books, using brushes or glue machines, and attach cloth backing and headbands.
- Attach endpapers to tops and bottoms of book bodies, using sewing machines, or glue endpapers and signatures together along spines, using brushes or glue machines.
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Knowledge
| Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. |
| Production and Processing — Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. |
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Skills
| Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
| Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others. |
| Instructing — Teaching others how to do something. |
| Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. |
| Quality Control Analysis — Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. |
| Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. |
| Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. |
| Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
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Abilities
| Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position. |
| Finger Dexterity — The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. |
| Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. |
| Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). |
| Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. |
| Control Precision — The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions. |
| Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). |
| Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. |
| Multilimb Coordination — The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion. |
| Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. |
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Work Activities
| Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things. |
| Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. |
| Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. |
| Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. |
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Work Context
| Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls? |
| Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
| Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
| Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
| Time Pressure — How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? |
| Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? |
| Spend Time Standing — How much does this job require standing? |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
| Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? |
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Job Zone
| Title |
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed |
| Overall Experience |
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful in these occupations, but usually is not needed. For example, a teller might benefit from experience working directly with the public, but an inexperienced person could still learn to be a teller with little difficulty. |
| Job Training |
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. |
| Job Zone Examples |
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include sheet metal workers, forest fire fighters, customer service representatives, pharmacy technicians, salespersons (retail), and tellers. |
| SVP Range |
(4.0 to < 6.0) |
| Education |
These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed. |
There is 1 recognized apprenticeable specialty associated with this occupation:
Bookbinder
To learn about specific apprenticeship opportunities, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor State Apprenticeship Information
website.
For general information about apprenticeships, training, and partnerships with
business, visit the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship
website.
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Interests
Interest code: RA
| Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others. |
| Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules. |
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Work Styles
| Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. |
| Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. |
| Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. |
| Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. |
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Work Values
| Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
| Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions. |
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Related Occupations
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Wages & Employment Trends
National
| Median wages (2007) |
$13.82 hourly, $28,740 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
7,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Decline rapidly (-10% or lower)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
1,000 additional employees |
State & National
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007 wage data
and 2006-2016 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2006-2016). "Projected need" represents job openings due to growth and net replacement.
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