Deteriorating paper presents a massive preservation problem to libraries and archives and the pursuit of some lower cost bulk treatment option has been undertaken by several institutions. Paper strengthening as a process has been of particular interest as it could greatly extend the life of documents. A paper strengthening process based on graft copolymerization techniques initiated by low-intensity gamma radiation has been the subject of research funded by the British Library and undertaken by the Industrial Chemistry Group of the University of Surrey. The results have proved promising on a first stage pilot plant scale with groups of whole books being successfully strengthened and reproducible results achieved. Treated paper lasts longer than untreated paper and can be subjected to normal conservation techniques. Further studies are in hand to finalize the work in order to enable the specification and design of an operational process to be initiated subject to successful completion of experimental work over the next 18 months. -- AATA