Can someone elaborate on the process of freezing water-damaged books then "drying them in a controlled environment"? There must be more to the process than this.

I haven't had to deal with masses of wet (as opposed to just damp) books, so haven't personally experienced freeze-drying and its results, but I checked the American Institute for Conservation's website, and under their "Caring for your Treasures=> Books," found a fairly straightforward section on freeze drying when I scrolled down to "Emergencies and Minor Disasters": http://aic.stanford.edu/library/online/brochures/books.html Another part of the website had an article by Mary Lou Florian on the need to prevent cross contamination when dealing with wet, moldy objects, which is important to note: it's not as easy as one might think to deal with this stuff.

http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic39-01-008_4.html