Books were everything to my mother. I grew up in a household where reading was of the highest priority. When she passed away in 2000 I was left her legacy of precious books.

I had received a large cardboard box of her very favorite choices and put them in my storage unit that I had been leasing.

In 2004 three hurricanes hit our small town and with each hurricane the flooding increased. It was several weeks until I could even make it to my unit to assess the damage. The smell of mold assaulted my nostrils even before I unlocked the door. All that I had left of my mother sat falling apart in the box on the damp floor of the unit. My heart sank.

Back at my home I carefully sorted through the books and laid them out to dry all over my living room. I had a glimmer of hope because of a new process that I had previously read about called document freeze drying.

Document freeze drying was a method used to remove mold and mildew from any type of paperwork or books. The document freeze drying technique worked for photographs microfilm and all other sorts of important files and paperwork.

Tracking down companies proved to be less difficult than I had imagined. Although I noticed some specialized in smoke and fire damage, while other document freeze drying companies were geared toward water damage. I chose a company that specialized in both.

After speaking with the document freeze drying professional, I realized that time was of the essence. Laying the books out to dry had definitely been the correct thing to do the document freeze dry company informed me. But I needed to get the books as soon as possible to the document freeze dry company to salvage them.

Fortunately there are many locations around the country so I was able to find a document freeze dry company somewhat nearby. The process of document freeze drying was not an inexpensive endeavor, but when I weighed the sentiment compared to the money of course the price of my mother's books could not be valued.

I gathered the book s I had placed virtually all over my home to dry. I had also placed fans in several strategic locations to help speed up the process, so I was careful not to stumble over the cords that went everywhere.

The document freeze dry company advised me against boxing the books due to their still dampened state. I borrowed a friends van and laid them out across the seats and drove them to the document freeze dry company that was several hours away.

It was well worth my effort my books were saved.