When Alain Roullet immigrated to the United States from France, he had no idea of the role that books and bookbinding would play in his future.  Now, as owner of Long’s-Roullet Bookbinders in the Park Place area of Norfolk, it’s hard for him to remember ever doing anything else.
   
Arriving in New York in 1966 after serving in both the Merchant Marines and French Navy, Alain had just a little money, and an even littler mastery of the English language.  After some less-than memorable jobs working in an ink factory and as a dishwasher, he chanced upon a job at the United Nations – in their basement!  By chance he met Eileen, who worked on the 32nd floor as a secretary for an Indian ambassador.  The chemistry was right, and they were married soon afterwards.
   
With “the city by the bay” calling to them both, they relocated to San Francisco.  It was there, operating a board trimmer at a 3-ring binder manufacturing plant, that Alain gained the experience he would need to get a “foot in the door” into the world of bookbinding.  When Alain and Eileen returned to the east coast a few years later to be near her family, Alain was hired at Ocker and Trapp, a library bindery in Emerson, New Jersey.  While his primary job was operation of an industrial paper trimmer, he made a point of learning all aspects of library binding.  A few years later, the cold New Jersey winters had given Eileen and Alain a desire to move further south.  “We closed our eyes and pointed to a spot on the east coast,” Alain recalls.  “Virginia Beach came up, and we started packing.”
   
Researching binding opportunities in the area led him to a meeting with Bill Long, founder of Long’s Religious Supply, another Norfolk family business.  Together, Bill and Alain formalized the business concept of Long’s Bookbinders.  Relying on some of the contacts Bill had through his association with the Christian Booksellers Association, a lot of local networking with doctors and schools (in the days when Christopher Newport University was still Christopher Newport College), and with Eileen managing the office, they built up a loyal customer base.  Throw in a special binding project for President Carter in 1977 (to be followed by one for President Reagan in 1983), and the little bindery at 3535-C Tidewater Drive was making a name for itself, so much so that in 1980 they relocated to a larger facility, their current location at 28th and Monticello Avenue.    
  
When Bill Long was ready to retire in 1990, he arranged to sell the bindery to Alain and Eileen.  Today, they continue their hands-on role in daily operations, and have since been joined by their oldest daughter Karen, who began learning the business in 1996.

 
While in previous years the majority of the demand for binding came from the university libraries, more recently with online access of journals and school budget cuts, the make-up of their customer base has shifted more to the business and individual sector.  From hospital libraries that bind medical journal subscriptions, to law firms presenting clients with hardcover bindings of business deals, to people who have written and reproduced their family history, to couples who create bound volumes of “courtship e-mails” or original poetry, a wide variety of printed matter has passed through the doors of the bindery.
  
More than a few customers have been with Alain and Eileen since the bindery’s earliest days.  Bob Craft of Lakewood is one such person.  He has been bringing his National Geographic issues since 1975, and recently celebrated a major milestone when he obtained the 1901 issues (which he then had bound to match the others!), thus giving him a complete printed collection of the magazine. 
   
Their most recent “out of the ordinary” project involved teaming up with the DAILY PRESS to bind commemorative volumes of newspapers chronicling Barack Obama’s nomination and inaugural ceremonies.  The DAILY PRESS offered the volumes for sale to their readership, and had special genuine leather sets bound for presentation to President Obama and Vice President Biden.    
    
If you are a self-described bibliophile, have a stack of magazines you’ve been collecting for years that is growing out of control, have a book or two that you’d like to give a facelift, or want to have a worn Bible rebound, you might want to see if our neighborhood bookbinder can help you out!
    
Long’s-Roullet Bookbinders is located at 2800 Monticello Avenue, just down from the Norfolk Zoo and St. Mary’s Cemetery.  You can reach them at 623-4244, or online at www.longs-roullet.com.