Membership Events Exhibitions Workshops About HBC

WORKSHOP WITH SUE DOGGETT AND KATE HOLLAND: ONE SPACE OPEN!

HBC is excited to announce that one space has opened up in our workshop with Designer Bookbinder Fellows Kate Holland and Sue Doggett. This is a 4-day workshop this coming February: Creative Processes and Decorative Techniques for Bookbinding. The workshop is a rare combination of both rigorous design instruction focused on visual storytelling in conversation with a text and the complex material skills and techniques needed to achieve one's creative vision when binding a book. Students should have some leather paring experience, and the workshop will be held in the CODEX Foundation Flex Space in north Berkeley.

When: February 12-15, 2026; 9:00am - 5:00 pm daily with a break for lunch
Where: The CODEX Foundation, 1331 7th Street, Berkeley CA
Price: $1150 Non-members & $950 Members plus $120 materials fee
Prerequisites: Basic leather paring skills

PAPER MARBLING WITH HAMPTON DECK

Hampton Deck will be teaching two different Paper Marbling classes at Arts Benicia in Benicia, CA this month.

Introductory Marbling for Everyone, Saturday, January 24th from 10am - 3pm, $140 for Arts Benicia members; $155 for non-members; $30 materials fee payable to instructor

The introductory class is for those who have no experience of marbling or those who want to refresh their knowledge of marbling. Hampton will offer lots of instruction and will personally assist everyone who wishes additional help. You should be able to produce at least 6 pieces (or more!) of marbled paper to take home at the end of the day.

Intermediate Marbling for Everyone, Sunday, January 25th from 10am - 3pm, $140 for Arts Benicia members; $155 for non-members; $30 materials fee payable to instructor

The intermediate class is for those who already have some experience of marbling—you can take the beginner class and come back the next day for this second class if you wish. In this class, Hampton will focus more on demonstrating advanced patterns and the emphasis will be on students choosing their own patterns and producing more marbled papers.

THANK YOU TO BOOK CLUB OF CALIFORNIA

Thank you everyone who joined us for our holiday party last month, and a special thanks to The Book Club of California and their Executive Director, Kevin Kosik, for hosting us.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to encourage you to sign up for a Book Club of California membership. They have a special introductory membership offer of $75 for new members. Please consider supporting them if you can!

Stanford Library Visit, January 16th at 2:00pm, Green Library Special Collections

Join your fellow HBC members for a visit to see some of the incredible fine bindings in the Green Library Special Collections. We are fortunate to have access to this large and stunning collection of fine bindings. The work ranges from Bay Area bookbinding pioneer, Belle McMurtry Young, to famous French binders like Rose Adler and Paul Bonet.

When: Friday, January 16 at 2pm
Where: Green Library at Stanford University, 557 Escondido Mall, Stanford, CA

Please RSVP by January 14 so we can add you to the library’s approved access list. Campus parking requires the ParkMobile app—you may want to download the app and create an account ahead of time. Tresidder Lot or Wilber Field Garage are convenient parking for the library. There is also a Cal Train station a couple of miles away. We’ll meet at Coupa Café, just outside the library entrance, before 2:00pm. We will enter the library as a group at 2:00pm.

BECOME A MEMBER OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY

HBC has several types of memberships available: Single, Double, Student and Group ranging from $20 - $50 per year.

Please email us at membership@handbookbinders.org with any questions.

Please also consider contributing to the Jane Aaron Scholarship Fund. It provides memberships and reduced workshop fees to binders who otherwise couldn’t afford it. Thank you for your support!

Thanks to a very generous donor, we are proud to say that our fundraising goal to raise $1,500 for the Jane Aaron Scholarship Fund in 2025 was successful. Thank you Wesley Tanner! Mr. Tanner is the 2021 recipient of the Book Club of California Oscar Lewis award for the Book Arts, and, as it turns out, a generous supporter of the Hand Bookbinders of California. 

Thanks as well to everyone who donated to the scholarship fund this year in any amount. We are thrilled to be able to support bookbinders in their pursuit of deeper learning, and we are just as thrilled to know that this is a value shared by many of you. Our donation page remains open: Jane Aaron Scholarship Fund.

HBC BINDERY NIGHTS

Join your HBC friends for inspiration or motivation or to use the equipment at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Please note, the Kwikprint machines are not available for use because they require a separate registration. All other bindery equipment will be available.

Upcoming HBC Bindery nights:

• Wednesday, January 14th 

• Wednesday, February 4th

• Wednesday, March 25th

• Wednesday, April 15th

As always, Beth Redmond will be available to answer questions and provide assistance. HBC Bindery Nights are open to all HBC members, no registration required, from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM in the SFCB Bindery. Hope to see you there!

CODEX X, FEBRUARY 7-10, OAKLAND MARRIOTT CITY CENTER

The CODEX Foundation will have its tenth Symposium and Book Art Fair in Oakland, CA at the Marriott City Center from February 7th - 10th. In addition to binderies, suppliers, and artists from all over the globe, many HBC members are also exhibiting in the Book Art Fair. See the full list of exhibitors on the CODEX website.

Find information here for CODEX Book Art Fair tickets (does not include Symposium registration).

Read more about the Symposium schedule of speakers and register for Symposium tickets (which includes admission to the Book Art Fair).

There are many other events around the Bay Area bookending CODEX X, such as SFCB’s exhibition, Who is America at 250?: Artists’ Books on the State of Democracy, and Kala Art Institute’s BOOKNESS Exhibition. To learn more, see the Additional Events page on the CODEX Foundation website.

HBC will have a table on Cultural Row at the 57th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, February 27th - March 1st at Pier 27, the Embarcadero, San Francisco. The theme of the fair is Revolutionary Moments in America. This will include scientific, artistic, industrial, political, and cultural movements that have shaped our nation.

Call for volunteers to staff the HBC table. If you can spend a few hours at the HBC table, please email exhibitions@handbookbinders.org with your availability. It is a great opportunity to talk about bookbinding and book repair with the public and make connections with another aspect of the book world. Volunteers will receive free admission to the fair and have some wandering around time.

Hours and Tickets

• Friday, February 27 | 4:00pm - 8:00pm | $25 VIP ticket, includes weekend re-entry

• Saturday, February 28 | 11:00am - 7:00pm | $15 ticket, includes Sunday re-entry

• Sunday, March 1 | 11:00am - 4:00pm | $10 ticket

Upcoming events from around the Bay Area and beyond!

• Collections Tour: Intro to the Archive with Michael Carabetta on Friday, January 9 from 1:30pm - 3pm at the Letterform Archive, 2325 Third St, Floor 4R

  San Francisco, CA. Tickets $12.51 - $33.85

• Webinar: Wire Edge Binding with Daniel E. Kelm on Saturday, January 17 from 11am - 12pm. Hosted by the American Bookbinders Museum. Tickets $15.

• San Francisco Art Week, from January 17 through January 25. Visit their site for the program of events and map of participating galleries and organizations.

• Deadline extended to January 20th for the call for entries to the Pulp - Paper - Book Exhibition at Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Apply Now on CaFE.

• Opening reception: Who Is America at 250? Artists' Books on the State of Democracy on Friday, January 23 from

  6pm - 8pm at SFCB, 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA. Free to attend; donation is encouraged.

If you would like to add events to our website, please fill out the event submission form.

Do you have something you’d like to advertise? Please email us at editor@handbookbinders.org and we’ll include it in our next newsletter!