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Abstract Biodeterioration of paper and parchment in ancient books and documents represents a cause of great concern for libraries and archives all over the world. The degradation processes occurring in paper, typically occur over extended timescales (~20 to >200 years). The study of the mechanisms underlying the microbiological attack of historical materials has been widely practiced and still represents one of the main focuses of those institutions and laboratories that are involved in cultural heritage conservation. A total of seventy historical manuscripts stored in different public and personal libraries were sampled for isolation and characterization of cellulolytic bacteria. The age of the manuscripts varied from 170-1030 years old. The characterization of the bacterial isolates was based on colony morphology, biochemical test and their ability to hydrolyze cellulose. Fourty nine bacterial isolates including 46 gram positive rods and 3 gram positive cocci were purified for further characterization. Fourty six gram positive isolates were sporeformers belonging to the genus Bacillus. Iodine solution was used to detect cellulolytic activity on CMC agar.. Results have shown that 16% of the isolates were weak producers, 53% moderate, 21% high and 10% v. high producers. Keywords: cellulolytic bacteria, historic documents,paper, deterioration. Corresponding author E-mail: shababa_bahjat@yahoo.com