TIANJIN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Tianjin Library is home to a collection of 590,000 ancient books and has conducted ancient book restoration work for over 70 years.

Gao Xuemiao, 38, leads the restoration team at the library. He is the first restoration expert with a background in chemistry since the establishment of the department in 1978.

Nowadays, ancient book restoration is increasingly viewed as a cross-disciplinary process. The incorporation of chemical and biological methods brings the process a more scientific dimension. "We conducted chemical analyses before the restoration process to find the matched paper, and make tailored plans for each ancient book," Gao said.