[xsl] normalize-space()?

I'm currently trying to get rid of beginning and trailing white spaces.
I think the normalize-space() function should do this, however I'm not
sure if it'll work the way I'm trying to use it.  An example would
probably be the easiest way to explain. 

<xsl:template match="covers">
	[<xsl:apply-templates select="normalize-space(covers)" />]
</xsl:template>

Currently this doesn't pull anything from the covers tag, all I get is
empty [].

When I leave out the select portion of the expression I get [ LB 101, LR
1332 ].  What I want is [LB 101, LR 1332]. Is the normalize-space
function the way to go to achieve this?

Thanks