[paper scratching] [paper snipping] [Narrator] One slip of the hand, and this 100 year old first edition book could be ruined forever. [Sophia exhales deeply] That's why restoring a book like this ...

They restore old bindings and torn pages. They create slipcovers and special boxes to protect fragile books. Their workshop is located near Drouot, the auction house, which sells antiquarian books.

The purpose of restoring old books is not to make them look new again but to preserve them for future use, Christopher McAfee, head conservator of rare books and manuscripts, said.

Soon after, the 64-year-old says he heard of many institutions getting rid of worn-out books from their library shelves and he thought of an idea to salvage them.