“It was a learning experience,” DeWitt said. He knows how important it is to the library.”Įven though this event was a loss for the library, it helped the library staff better prepare for any other challenges that may come their way in the future. “He was someone who came to the Book Sale often. The library usually raises around $25,000-30,000 from this sale. Not only was this a hard time for the library, but the man who donated also felt guilty about the fall library sale being cancelled because of his donation. “We just didn’t want to take a chance of the public’s health,” DeWitt said. Though most of the contaminated books were thrown out, the Fall Book Sale was still cancelled. Now, the books that passed their inspection are being stored in a trailer, and after a year, the bed bugs should be gone. Hundreds of volunteer hours were spent sorting through the books and separating contaminated ones from those that hadn’t been exposed. “ … I never once thought about catching something from them.” “It is shocking just to think how many people handle all of those books,” English teacher Carol Spring said. The bugs migrated to the other donated books, infesting such a number of them that it became necessary to cancel the fall book sale, one of the biggest library fundraisers of the year and one that NHS students often work at for their service hours. K-12 Student Library Random Book Advanced Search More Add a Book Recent Community Edits Developer Center Help & Support My Books. “He called to let us know which was very responsible of him,” DeWitt said. Bedbugs by Shelley Bueche, 2005, KidHaven Press edition, in English. After he realized his mistake, he immediately called the library. He had brought the books in an open laundry basket and then put them in with all of the other donated books. “ called up and said, ‘there might be a problem with the donation I dropped off,’” said Ruth DeWitt, Friends of the Lawrence Public Library Coordinator.įour days after he donated books to the library, the local man realized that his apartment was infested with bed bugs. Over Labor Day weekend, a donation of books cancelled the Fall Book Sale, scheduled for Sept. If you notice any telltale signs of the pest like small red to brown fecal spots, molt bed bug skins or red bite marks on the body, contact a pest professional to inspect and treat the problem.While bed bugs usually feed strictly on blood, the ones in Lawrence have taken a new dietary interest: library book donations.Ī sign reading “we are not yet accepting donations” is posted on Lawrence Public Library’s door. To prevent bed bugs, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) says that vigilance is key. In addition, some supervisors have brought in bed bug-sniffing dogs as a precautionary measure. Putting books in the microwave essentially has the same drawbacks as putting them in the oven. Curling up with a book hasnt been this frightening since the first time you read The Shining. Again, the high temperature could kill them, but it’s not a good idea. It turns out that you can get bed bugs from library books. Bed bugs + library books + microwave dead bed bugs. Libraries are taking action by training circulation staff to keep an eye out for signs of bed bugs in books before they get put back on the shelves. You might have seen a tip about library books. The New York Times reports that bedbugs and their eggs can hide in the spines of hardcover books. The article says, “The bugs crawl out at night to feed, find a new home in a headboard, and soon readers are enjoying not only plot twists but post-bite welts.” Well, heres another reason to buy e-books - evidently libraries are struggling to deal with the problem of bedbugs hiding out in their books and then being spread to patrons homes, especially when they read in bed at night. Bed bugs have been reportedly hiding in the spines of hardcover books borrowed from libraries, according to an article titled “A Dark and Itchy Night” that appeared in yesterday’s print edition of The New York Times. The most recent reports point to bed bugs becoming an issue in library books. More and more, these bloodsucking pests are showing up in rather obscure places that are nowhere near beds. (December 7, 2012) – The name “ bed bugs” can sometimes be a bit of a misnomer.
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