Proper quarantine procedure for library items involves placing damaged items in sealed Ziploc bags and/or airtight bins, and heating or chilling the items to kill bed bugs and their eggs. The Public Library Association has made a webinar, Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite: Prevention and Treatment in Public Libraries, available on-demand to library staff. Thankfully, libraries have myriad resources to help them deal with this issue. She adds that, in her opinion, "the library carries the greatest risk because books and items get returned from all sorts of residences and situations," and bed bugs can infest the building itself, moving from books into furniture. Jody Green says that "books infested with bed bugs or even cockroaches are so badly soiled and damaged they cannot go back out in circulation," so the books that would put library patrons at risk of bringing bed bugs into their homes are removed from the collection as soon as they are returned. Mars and Ballenger assure me that, even though "bed bug infestations happen, don't worry about it when at a library." Entomologists Joanie Mars and Joe Ballenger delivered the somewhat disconcerting news that "ed bugs can live about 5 months without food. How much of a problem are bed bugs in library books, really? I contacted Ask an Entomologist to find out whether readers should worry about picking up a bed bug infestation from the books they bring home from the library. There's no real indication that people who have or have had bed beg trouble are in danger, but the researchers note that "the implications of being exposed to chronic airborne histamine are unclear." Histamines are also responsible for asthma attacks, which gave researchers at North Carolina State University pause when they learned that bed bug-infested homes had histamine levels of up to 20 times more than non-infested homes. Bed bug feces contains histamines: chemicals that tell your immune system to root out a threat by triggering the sneezing, runny nose, and itchy, watery eyes that you get whenever you have an allergic reaction. Some people have bed bug allergies, but it turns out that those tiny terrors can actually exacerbate existing sinus woes. Your bed provides the insects with lots of nooks and crannies to move around in, and you offer up their dinner - human blood - every time you go to sleep. Most people have heard the old saying, Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, but what is a bed bug, exactly? Bed bugs are tiny parasites that thrive in warm climates with places to hide, like the inside of your home. I've got some tips you can use to avoid bringing bed bugs into your home through your library checkouts. Curling up with a book hasn't been this frightening since the first time you read The Shining. It turns out that you can get bed bugs from library books. It's preventive," she said.I have some unfortunate news, book nerds. "We do have applications by pest control. Likewise, Canton Library spokesperson Laurie Golden said they haven't had any bed bug issues or heat materials. I've never heard anyone else doing it," he said. "Westland may be the only library doing it. Wayne Library Director Steve McGladdery also said that library hasn't had a problem and doesn't heat materials. "I never heard of libraries doing this (heating materials) locally. Hopefully, it isn't a problem," Livonia Library Director Toni LaPorte said. ![]() Other libraries have visited the Faust Library, Neal said, to see how the pest control is handled. Westland is one of the few libraries that heats materials to address bed bugs. "They identified other materials returned by the same family," Neal said. Back in August, Neal said the staff members checking returned materials before they were heated found signs of bed bugs on some material.
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