LAUNCH: Spinal Surgery

There are doctors for just about everything these days. But Julie Schleier has a unique “medical” specialty. She deals with breaks, rips and accidental amputations … on books. Schleier is Oak Cliff’s very own Book Doctor, repairing and restoring old volumes with skill and expertise won from 15 years of experience. Thanks to printers, binders, computers and cover-making machines, Schleier has the equipment to fix just about any manual’s maladies. Got a broken binding? She’ll redo it. A beat-up cover? She’ll recreate it. Just don’t ask her to modernize your grandmother’s heirloom Bible — “I work on conservation rather than remodeling,” Schleier says. “An old book is prized because of its age and style … I don’t devalue books.” Her appreciation for a hardback’s original design not only soothes sentimental children’s book owners, but also attracts rare book collectors and dealers. How old are we talking? Schleier recently recreated the entire back cover to a McGuffey reader in her Seventh Street location, and she once restored a Catholic tome made in 1495 (that’s 513 years ago, just in case you were counting).