Mine are velcro'd on. I have had situations where I had to take my machine in for service prior to finishing a quilt. With velcro I was able to leave the quilt pinned on and remove the leaders. Then I could remove the take up pole and get my machine to the service tech. If they were glued on you'd have no choice but to repin your quilt. That would be a nightmare. Make sure you mark the center of the leaders and the poles with a sharpie so that you can line up the leaders correctly when you put them back on.