Situated at 8,750 feet in an isolated mountain town in Telluride Colorado is the American Academy of Bookbinding. Last November our restoration expert, Teresa Walker, made the journey via a small propeller aircraft to take the school’s week-long intensive in paper conservation. Tucked into the snowcapped mountains this fully restored historic little town provided the perfect setting for Teresa to learn advanced methods in the mending and cleaning of old papers through immersion baths, deacidification, and re-sizing to restore paper that had become damaged over time. To practice her newly learned skills, Teresa brought samples of items that required various degrees of repair, from water damage to a child’s crayon handiwork. One of Teresa’s items was a small family heirloom – a pamphlet from 1906 containing information and a photo about her great-grandfather.