Tools
The anvil remembers every visit.
Survival refuses a job that costs 40 levels or more. The number on the item goes up each time you rename, repair or combine it.
3
Prior-work penalty alone: 7 levels. The rename, the repair and the book you are adding sit on top of that. You still have room, until the new work pushes the total to 40.
Survival will still open the anvil.
Use the grindstone
It strips the enchantments, except curses, combines two damaged copies, and hands back some experience. No level cost. Do this when the enchantments are junk and you only want the tool back.
Don’t grind Mending
A Mending tool should be repaired with experience, or combined once while the cost is still under 40. Put the books on in one anvil trip, not five. Creative mode ignores the cap. Survival does not.
Which books are worth that cost is the enchantment chart.