The Book Model Collection (BMC) at the University of Iowa Libraries is an extensive teaching collection of more than 400 items housed in the Conservation Lab that demonstrates bookbinding techniques from various eras of history and across a broad range of cultures.

Items in the BMC generally fall into one of three categories. These types are: models, exemplars, and workshops materials.

Models can be hypothetical or replicas and are generally made with the purpose of demonstrating historical features of book structures. Their production is noncontemporary, materials are as close to historical practice and evidence as the binder could get, and books tend to be blank. Binding models in the BMC are generally denoted in their call number by the use of a lower case “a.”

Exemplars are contemporaneous objects, originating directly from the period in question and exemplifying historical features. Exemplars in the BMC are generally denoted in their call number by the use of a lower case “b.”

Workshop materials comprise bindings produced in a workshop setting, teaching aids, and demonstration samples. Workshop models in the BMC are generally denoted in their call number by the use of a lower case “c.”

This significant mechanical and material study of the book as physical object is contextualized and extended into the 20th and 21st centuries by the inclusion of machine-produced books and electronic reading devices in the collection.