This journal article reports on conservation salvage procedures used for archival and library collections by the Committee to Rescue Italian Art (CRIA) following the November 1966 flood in Florence and Venice. Waterlogged books and manuscripts swelled, bursting their bindings. Other deterioration included mechanical damage, mold and bacteriological infestations, softening of sizing, disintegration of paper (cellulose), sticking of coated paper, leaching of tanning agents from leather bindings, and severe shrinkage and cockling of parchment and vellum. Priorities included decreasing relative humidity (RH), increasing ventilation (air circulation) and drying by interleaving, fanning (first rolling in sawdust to absorb excess moisture), or use of industrial drying companies (temperature at 122-140°F, RH 35-50% for paper; 68-77° for vellum). Mud was allowed to dry, then brushed off. Most valuable books were frozen. Transparent blue stains caused by polluted water were bleached using Chloromine T. Fungicides and fumigants included formaldehyde gas, ethylene oxide and orthophenyl phenol (Topane, Dowicide 1). A Study Committee on Book Conservation was formed under the auspices of CRIA to teach book binding. References date from 1952-1966. This is a reference for emergency and disaster planning.