One of my quilt clubs got donated a TON of those books once. We cut all the usable pieces up into strips and did strip piecing on foundation for the most beautiful quilts that looked like stained glass. I'm already buying up black fabric for one I hope to have on my bed someday!
I have close to 200 books of apholstery fabric and some tapestry. Here is a quilt I made with them.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/17125.page
I don't wash fabric or do anything accept remove them from the book until I am ready to use them. For the quilt above, I could only get one usable square out of each page from the books because they shrank so bad when I washed them. I simply used my rotary cutter and cut the industrial glue and label off. I have not yet found a way to remove it without completely destroying the underlying fabric.
I find they make great kids quilts and can be tie tacked easily. Also, great for charm quilts or a quilt that would be used in winter or cold places because they are so heavy and warm. I used to hate even looking at those books, but now that I've made a few, I really like them. I make many a baby quilt with them at toddler size so the babies can use them when they are toddling around. I suggest 2 washings before stitching as they fray horribly and shrink A LOT.
Hope this helps.