LI DAN and Zhang Liang, who work in the ancient books repair departments of the Northeast Normal University Library and the Shenzhen Library, respectively, have repaired hundreds of ancient books over the years in their small, quiet offices inside the libraries.

    “We are little-known book doctors,” said Li Dan, who has to follow over 30 procedures to finish repairing an ancient book. “Maintaining very old books is quite challenging for us, but it is our mission to help the next generation read the ancient wisdom in the books for themselves.”

    Similar to Li and her colleagues, Zhang and his teammates take care of over 3,000 ancient books collected by their library.

    “Repairing ancient books requires a lot of time, and each of us practices our skills by continuing to repair the books,” said Li Jing, Zhang’s colleague.

    But despite the sense of accomplishment and joy they gain through their work, they all expressed concern over a lack of professional repairers.

    Established in September 2013, the ancient book repair department of the Shenzhen Library now offers free services to local residents who need their privately collected books repaired.(Tan Yifan)