Have them covered with American duck or canvas pasted directly to the leaves, pressed well and given plenty of time to dry under pressure, and so avoid as much as possible all warping of boards and shrinkage of the cloth.

For all large folios, newspapers and kindred works, use heavy canvas, as it is somewhat cheaper than sheep, and as easily worked.

Have them sewed strongly on the requisite number of bands, every band laced into the boards, which should be made by pasting two heavy binder's boards together, to prevent warping and give solidity to the volume.
The reason I say lace in large volumes is that the heavy books will sag and pull out of covers by their great weight unless tightly fastened to a solid board, thus giving the book a good foundation to stand on.
For all periodicals not bound in leather I should prescribe the same treatment.

These volumes can be lettered in ink on the canvas, or in gold on a colored leather label pasted on the cloth.

But for all books which are destined to be bound in leather I should surely, and without any hesitation whatever, order morocco, and by this I mean goat skin, and I should go still further and demand a good German or French goat; boards hard and laced in at every band, super joints, full, open backs, lettering clear and distinct, and the paper on the sides to match the leather.
I would also recommend that a schedule be used, giving a space for schedule number; then the name of book or books, or lettering to be used on each volume; space for the number of volumes, space for description of binding, and finally for price, thus giving the binder a complete order on a large sheet, which he is in no danger of losing.
All he will have to do is to mark on the title of each volume, in small figures, its schedule number, and, when the books are done, put down the prices and add up the column of figures, and make out his statement as per the number of schedule.
This method gives the librarian a complete list of volumes sent and returned, and by laying away these schedules she has for handy reference a very complete list of prices.