We have librarians who are expert at taking apart books (cutting off the binding and cutting the signatures apart), feeding them through scanners to get the entire book in just a few minutes, then compile it into a single PDF file. I'm sure the librarians here aren't alone in this skill. I would check with your librarians in the area if you want to do this. Our machine isn't that high end - it's an office model, yes, but I don't think it cost thousands. Probably hundreds.

Once the book is scanned, it is sent out to a binder and rebound (perfect binding this time) and it's ready for the stacks.

SRS