Adhesives are useful and efficient ~ but only if you choose the right ones for your tasks. I write a few notes here for the benefit of those craftspeople who just think of glue without realising that there are different propertes that can make them 'good' or 'bad'. The notes are, at present in jumbled order as I think of them ~ one day I shall tidy them into a more readable article.
An important ~ often forgotton ~ property of adhesive for the bookbinder is How well does this adhesive stick to itself? PVA and EVA are water-soluble until they dry which means they can be intermixed with themselves or other water-based pastes or glues. Two points here - mising before, and second applications.
Paste is used as a stripper ~ for other paste and even hot glue. It is commonly featured in descriptions of recovering old books. 'Rub paste into the spine ~ ~ wait ~ scratch off the now softened old glue.' (It is not a quote from anywhere ~ but is my recollection of numerous sources.