R.R. Donnelley is the printer for our new congregational songbook. The factory is located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Across 1,000,000+ square feet of work space are machines that print, bind, glue, sew, engrave, and emboss. These are the same rooms that birthed the Harry Potter and Hunger Game series, the recent Steve Jobs biography, and countless Bibles, textbooks, and hymnals. Whether in school, church, or home, R.R. Donnelley books have been in your hands at some point.
The 2012 Sampler for Glory to God was printed at Donnelley. Now the hymnal itself has begun production. Hymns and songs are being typeset and proofread. Presbyterians may be surprised that this part of the process takes a year. When the electronic files finally arrive in Crawfordsville, their staff will format the files and send them to print 32 pages per sheet. After printing these "signatures", they are folded, sorted, and stacked by machine in the appropriate order. The complete interior of the book is then bound and glued and sewn to the book case (hard cover).
Glory to God will be made entirely in the United States of America. The cover will be eco-friendly, with up to 30% recycled material.
Want to see more? This five-minute video (from the Discovery Channel show "How It's Made") was filmed at Donnelley's Crawfordsville plant.
Stay tuned for updates as the book goes to print. We hope to sing the book into being on its birthday!
