Your thesis will need to be bound before it's turned in to the library. There are so many online binding choices. Here are a few:
lulu
blurb
createspace

Local Binders  - These local binderies can bind copies of your thesis.

Allegra Print and Imaging
102 Waterman Street Providence, RI 02906 (401) 421-5160
Hope Bindery & Box Company
250 Esten Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02860 (401) 726-6688
Ocean State Bookbinding
225 Dupont Dr., Providence, RI (401) 528-1172

If you're binding your own thesis, here are some recommended texts:

Books, boxes, and portfolios: binding, construction, and design

Books, boxes & wraps: binding & building

Japanese Bookbinding: Instructions from a Master Craftsman

Sewn and pasted cloth or leather bookbinding for book artists...

If you'd like some graphic design sources for layout and text, try these titles. Recommended by Ernesto Aparicio, RISD Graphic Design Critic

Grid Systems in Graphic Design
Jost Hochuli: Printed matter, mainly books
Notes on Book Design
The Typographic Grid
Typography: Macro-and Microaesthetics

If you're having your thesis commercially bound and have decided upon a glued rather than stitched binding method, the library recommends using double fan adhesive binding. This type of binding holds up best over time.

Source: Parisi, Paul A., and Jan Merrill-Oldham. §6.3, p.5. Library Binding Institute Standard for Library Binding. Rochester, NY: Institute, 1986. image source

Plastic - the Binding Material to Avoid

Plastic covers are not stable. We've had numerous instances of plastic-covered theses sticking to and melting with those shelved next to them. Please choose archival materials for your thesis cover, and use pH neutral or archival quality paper.