Drying frozen books

For Micki Ryan:  if the books you recovered were heavily saturated,
or very thick, it can take a very long time to dry out (more than a
year).  Also, the way in which the object is wrapped may be
hindering the movement of moisture away from the volume. Now that
the book is frozen (and shaped) you may consider how it was
originally wrapped and perhaps thin it out some.

You may also remove the books now and air dry them, one by one if
that suits you, standing the book on end and fanning the pages out
to facilitate drying.  This should be done in an area that is cool
and dry, with good circulation, to speed up the process and prevent
mold growth. If there is still a lot of moisture interleave every so
many pages with blotting paper to remove the excess, changing the
blotters as required to remove the moisture from the book, and then
air dry as described above. When the book is really really close to
dry, shape it gently (e.g., close the book) to keep distortion at a
minimum. Note:  if the paper you are attempting to air dry is
coated, you will have to work to keep the pages from touching during
drying or they will stick.  Consider having those items
freeze-dried.  If you note soluble materials, these too may be good
candidates for freeze drying.

The NEDCC has several excellent Technical Leaflets on the subject of
salvage.  The one on drying out books is available on our Web site
at <URL :http://www.nedcc.org/drying.htm> or we will mail you a
paper copy if you prefer.  You can call us EST 8:30 to 4:30 at
978-470-1010 or email me at the above address.  Good luck with your
project - I hope this helps,

Karen E.K. Brown
Field Service Representative
Northeast Document Conservation Center
100 Brickstone Square
Andover, MA  01810-1494
508-470-1010
Fax: 508-475-6021

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:35
                 Distributed: Tuesday, October 14, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-35-002
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