I remember during my achool.days we had to cover our books and it did not really matter which material we used. I initially started with newspapers. Later shifted to clear transparent plastic material then finally to thicker coloured plastic covers which I obtained from an oil factory free of charge. These helped to protect my books during rains as I did not own an umbrella back then. These days however, schools sell a uniforms of book covers for the whole school. Parents are forced to buy this. Which do you think is more economical?
When I was in jr. high and high school covering our books was required to protect them. They used to give out paper covers for free which we were aloud to grab any time at the office. Cloth book covers were also sold at the dollar store so I found that to be a great option since it would last longer than the paper cover. This way I didn't waste too much paper and the cloth one lasted me 4 years and was very cheap.
We get it from the school itself and it's not too costly when compared to the price in open market. Moreover, the quality is very good and it actually lasts for the whole year. I think it's a good practice. Otherwise people may start experimenting on book covers with colorful pictures. Like school uniforms it ensures uniformity in everything which is good for an ideal school environment. Kids are not supposed to give more attention on things like which dress to wear in school and which book cover to be used. They should be focused on studies. This culture ensures all these factors.
Same thing we did during my school days we would cover or wrap our books with newspapers or other fine papers. This help to keep the books new and away from stains. Though this can prevent them from being drenched, at least it can help keep them neat and well kept for our younger ones
When I was in school, I used to cover my books with glossy magazines pages. My father was a journalist and he used to get a lots of magazines for free. I used to cover my books with sports and fashion magazines. There was no rule for book cover. However, these days most of the schools allow only paper wraps as the cover on the books.
I have always been using those transparent book wrap to wrap the books, as it helps to protect the books from getting wet or dirty. I still like to wrap the books now. When I was in high school, there was a period I liked to wrap the books with gift wrapping papers first, then wrap with the transparent book wrap, as I was using secondhand or thirdhand books and some covers were broken, so it looks better to wrap with the gift wrapping paper. I have seen those standard transparent book wrap selling in the bookshop, and many parents prefer to buy them as they are more convenient. I still prefer those transparent book wrap, and I think those are cheaper.
To cover the book especially those books that are issued to us by our class adviser when we were still studying in elementary and in high school is strictly required from us. Otherwise, we won't have a copy of our own textbooks and it is to our disadvantage. The common book cover that we used at that time is Manila paper. It is similar to pattern paper used by the tailor. It is very cheap and it makes the book look neat. Now, businessmen realize that it is an opportunity for them to have a good income. They produce good quality plastic book cover. However, the students have still the freedom to cover it by a commercialized book cover or not. They're not obliged to do that. Even today, students are still required to cover their books lend to them by their school and return them at the school ends.
We used to cover our books with a kind of thick papers which had lamination on them. The lamination efficiently used to increase the durability of the books, and we could manage to handle them without wear and tear. However, these days, children are not given the option of choosing covers according their wish. Most of the private schools sell book covers labelled with schools's name which parents are compelled to buy without having much of a choice.
Until last year we had to buy brown laminated covers from the school, but one good thing about this school is that they sell everything at the same price that we get in the market, they do not look for profit, so it was the same price whether we bought them from school or from outside. This year though, the school has customised the notebooks with their top hardcover printed with school logo and label space for child's name etc. so we are able to save some money as we do not have to cover the notebooks, only the textbooks.
I am an adult now, I don't use anything to cover the original book covers. However, when I was a little girl my parents made me to cover my books and I hated to cover the cover. If you use the book too much, for instance your course book, covering it with something protects it, however cost wise, it can be very expensive.
I see some students covering their books using transparent polythene papers. That design appears very smart. Another adantage of the papers is that they are cheaply found since only waste paper is cut and used. They are also trransparent and you can easily read the contents of the first cover page of the book.
