Save Water-Damaged Books

[Carol Libeck <cvlibeck@MAIL.MICROSERVE.NET>]

Hi Friends,

Last November I wrote to the listserv asking for help.  A hot water coil
had broken in our building and water damaged several hundred books in the
library.  Nineteen of you wonderful people replied. To you I am so
grateful.

Amber Ermlick, the Preservation Specialist at the University of Pittsburgh
wrote giving this advice:

"You will be facing a serious mold problem with all that water and all
those books.

You don't have much time with the flood.  Mold starts to grow between 48-72
hours after a flood.

You need to reduce the heat and humidity in the library, and keep the
lights on.  Mold likes to grow in dark, warm places.

Decide what you are going to keep and discard.  Pack the books you are
going to keep in boxes with wax or freezer paper wrapped around each book.

Find freezer space for the boxes to be kept temporarily.  This will prevent
the mold growth, and give you some time.

I don't know what your budget is like, but the best way to save your books
would be to get them vacuum freeze dried.  This is a process that takes the
water from a liquid to a gas state with skipping the solid state.   The
books will be as good as new."

She then gave me the names and numbers of two vendors.

On Monday morning, by ten o'clock we had contacted Document Reprocessors.
They were at our school by 5:30 that evening; we packed the books and they
were on their way before seven o'clock.  Our books were back in 18 days as
good as new!
Books with clay-coated pages (glossy) are not quite as good as new.  Our
glossy paged books were a little wrinkled, but still very useable. And
they, along with many other excellent books that were out of print, were
saved.

We were absolutely thrilled.  I had never heard of vacuum freeze drying
books, but now I highly recommend it.

Document Reprocessors has a web site that gives a lot of information and
their toll free numbers on the east and west coasts:

        http://www.documentreprocessors.com

Again, thank you to all the wonderful people who answered by plea for help.



Carol Libeck
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
cvlibeck@mail.microserve.net