American Bookbinders Museum
We tell the story of the book, presenting the art of western bookbinding as a hand process through early mechanization, promoting a deeper understanding of the impact of book production on the American experience.
About American Bookbinders Museum
The American Bookbinders Museum is a registered 501(c)(3) museum in San Francisco dedicated to preserving and promoting the art and history of Western bookbinding. The museum interprets bookbinding as both a hand craft and a technology-driven industry, using objects, machinery, exhibitions, and programs to show how books were made and how production shaped American life. ABM maintains a curated collection of historical equipment, tools, and artist books and presents rotating exhibitions, public programs, workshops, and recorded webinars for collectors, students, and book artists. In the last 2–3 years the museum hosted major book-arts exhibitions and competitions, expanded digital resources (online catalog and recorded programming), and continued regular workshops and community events that engage professional binders and the general public. Staff and volunteers run visitor-facing initiatives (monthly workshops, group tours, school programs and a public audio tour) and partner with national book-arts organizations to present juried exhibitions and competitions that draw practitioners and audiences regionally and internationally.
Notable achievements
Unique national specialty museum
Recognized as North America’s only museum solely dedicated to the history and craft of bookbinding, a distinctive institutional role that anchors specialty exhibitions, research, and educational programming.
Host for prominent book-arts exhibitions
Served as the exhibition venue for high-profile book-arts shows and competitions in recent years (including the Set category of Open•Set 2025 and the Hand Bookbinders of California members’ exhibition in 2025), strengthening ties with national bookbinders’ organizations and artists.
Expanded public access and digital offerings
Developed and maintained an online catalog of the special collection, recorded webinars, and an audio tour program to increase remote and in-person access to the museum’s collection and interpretation.
At a glance
- Total assets
- $340K
- Annual revenue
- $378K
- Tax status
- 501(c)(3)Public charity
- EIN
- 26-3235193
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Website
- bookbindersmuseum.org
- On Mahalo since
- April 2026
Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.
Recognition
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