CPR for drowned books
Books were among the casualties of the Sept. 26 floods. Given the widespread human tragedy it may seem insensitive to worry about printed matter, but if you love books the loss of a library, no matter how small, is a terrible blow. It is hard to explain to people who only open books when they need answers to specific questions (assuming they cannot consult Google), but those books are our friends. Their characters are as real to us as the people we meet in school or at work, and our relationships with these fictions are often more satisfying than our dealings with flesh and blood humans.
When you survey your water-damaged books you may allow yourself a moment of despair, but do not blame yourself for not being able to save them. What should you have done as the raging floodwaters burst into your ground floor, lift an entire bookshelf up two flights of stairs? You had family and pets to worry about; forgive yourself for not being Superman. It will take more than a cataclysm to kill Falstaff, Odysseus, the Bennets and Karamazovs, Pip, Eustacia Vye, Wart, and all our fictional intimates, including Superman. In the first place many of these characters were already killed off by their own authors, but they live forever in the literary universe.
In the second place, the stories you love are already in your head. However, if you need to have them by you, then the books can be replaced easily enough. If new editions are too expensive, then look for copies in second-hand bookstores. Many of the best-known literary works, those written a century ago or earlier, are available for free on the Internet, on sites like gutenberg.org. There are also excellent second-hand bookstores on the net, such as alibris.com. To save on freight costs, have your orders delivered to friends and relatives in the US, then sent to you by balikbayan box.
If your rare volumes, out-of-print books, and antiquarian books were submerged in the flood, you may allow yourself a couple of hours of wailing and gnashing of teeth. However, before you give vent to your grief, contact conservators who might be able to salvage your books.
Unless you have been trained in book conservation, it is best to leave the rescue of your rare books to professionals. Your good intentions may damage the volumes beyond repair.
Book conservation is a relatively new field; many of the techniques in use today were developed in 1966 as conservators and volunteers raced to save artworks, books, and manuscripts damaged in the great flood in Florence, Italy. On Nov. 4, 1966, the river Arno overflowed and overwhelmed the city with 600,000 tons of mud, sewage, and rubble. By some estimates, half of the masterpieces of Western art are in Italy, and half of those are in Florence, center of the Renaissance. Tens of thousands of priceless artworks, and three to four million books, needed to be restored.
Imagine the billions of mud-soaked pages that had to be individually washed and dried. The water-logged books expanded so much that they not only burst their bindings but broke the shelves. The books that were above the waterline absorbed moisture, and in the damp air mold threatened to eat through the paper fibers. Conservators decided to freeze the most valuable materials until they could be attended to.
Human chains of volunteer “mud angels” fished the books out of the mud, loaded them onto trucks, and send them to dry in granaries and tobacco kilns all over Italy.
In this light your own book tragedies might seem less dramatic.
Today’s conservators and archivists have access to new technologies for saving water-damaged books. Large quantities of books and documents can be dried in vacuum chambers. Freeze-drying can also remove water effectively. Fungicides have been used to inhibit the growth of mold on paper, but there are concerns about the dangers they pose to workers.
What if you do not have access to a vacuum freeze-drying chamber, but cannot bring yourself to part with your water-damaged books? You could try the following emergency procedures. I cannot guarantee that your books will be saved — they will certainly not be restored to their original state — but you can rest assured that you’ve tried everything.
The Preservation Policy and Services Division of the American National Archives recommends that the damaged volumes be housed in a place with freely-circulating air. Keep the air-conditioning and fans on, and if you have a dehumidifier, use it. This will help prevent mold from growing on the wet pages.
If the books are mud-encrusted, wash them gently in cold running water. Dab them with a sponge to release mud and dirt, but take care not to rub the gunk into the pages. Do not use detergents or bleach.
After washing, hold the book firmly closed. Wet pages tear easily. It’s easier to remove mud when the paper has dried.
When the books are very wet, do not hang them out to dry on nylon lines (sampayan); the weight will damage the inside folds. Wait until they are partially dry. Don’t press water-soaked books either, as this forces mud into the paper and bindings.
Place sheets of white (never colored) blotter paper, paper towels, or thick toilet paper between the wet pages to soak up moisture. This is called “interleaving.” You can also use sheets of newspaper, but do not use colored sections. Take care not to rub the newspaper ink into the pages you are drying. The damp sheets you used for interleaving should not be reused. Change the sheets frequently, and do not leave them in the books after they have dried.
Good luck on your rescue mission.
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