In general the process includes thawing the volumes, removing covers, washing, pressing the volumes, refreezing, freeze-drying, applying gamma irradiate and ozonating volumes before returning them to final processing to repatriate them to the collection. If salvageable it may go through further treatments to clean, repair or replace damaged pages. Most volumes require covers and are sent to commercial binderies for rebinding. All work on the volumes is tracked through databases by the contractor. When treatment and final processing is completed the volumes return to the Libraries for acceptance processing and updating of SAGE to show that the volumes are available.
Volumes vary in their condition after repair.
Some volumes appear almost new while others show the evidence of water damage. Defects may include wrinkling, staining from mold, edge damage to the text block, transference of color, soiling, and weakening of the text block. Rebinding of some volumes causes reduction in inner margins, making the text very close to the gutter. The current estimate is 6 months for the completion of repairs by the contractor. Volumes deemed unsalvageable are a total loss and will be discarded, as they are not suitable for other uses.