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In past jobs, I've worked with Xerox Docutech and Kodak Lionheart digital printers (basically computer-controlled copier-printers), and smaller digital copiers that create a digital image from original content, and accept digital documents from a disk or from a network. Some of those devices interface with a computer, and can be designed to scan the original into the PC for OCR, reorganization, and saving the digital file for future printing needs.
Occasionally we scanned books for printing, and we had to take them apart to do so. Usually, the only catch was feeding it through the scanner... we had scanners that would automatically feed pages, even duplex on-the-fly, but they didn't always handle odd page sizes (a paperback-sized page would never feed well, too small).
Although I'm sure the equipment could be designed to feed odd-sized papers, I'm also sure that the printer companies were sensitive enough to the desire of publishers to avoid making it easy to copy their books--and their own desire not to be sued--that they essentially locked their scanners into handling 8.5x11-and-up sizes only. (This is the same reason they take steps to avoid your making counterfeit money on your color printer...)
The only thing I've ever found to make the process "easy" was to make it a 2-step process: First, use a standard copier to enlarge the smaller book pages into 8.5x11 (or A4, if you're on the other side of the pond) single-sided pages; Then, feed those letter-sized pages through an auto-feeding scanner for digital files and OCR. The benefits here are that the copier work will be faster and easier than hand-scanning individual pages, and the larger type size of the enlarged copies will OCR easier.
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