UW library freezes bedbugs off infested books
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SEATTLE (AP) - The University of Washington's libraries are checking for bedbugs after some of the little blood-suckers were found making a home in some architecture books.
Staffers at the school's architecture library were checking in books in August when they spotted some small black dots.
"That made them look closer, and they realized there were some bedbugs in the spine of the books," said Stephanie Lamson, preservation librarian.
The bugs had crawled into the space that opens along the spine of hardcover books between the cover and the paper.
Concerned about an infestation, the staff took those books and others around them and quarantined them in plastic bags. After bugs turned up at the same library a second time that month, there were a total of about 45 potentially affected books. They de-bugged them in a natural history museum freezer.
High heat also kills bedbugs, but the library didn't want to risk damaging the books.
Since then, all of the university's libraries - there are more than a dozen - have been on the lookout for the insects, which can be difficult to eradicate. So far, no other facility has found any of the bugs.
Lamson said Friday a temperature of 18 degrees below zero killed the pests discovered in the architecture books.
The books were frozen for seven days, allowed to warm up for six days, and put back in the freezer for another week. The second dip in the deep freeze was to kill any bugs that hatched from eggs after the first chill.
"We also had a bedbug-sniffing dog come through, just to be very careful," Lamson said. "And we were cleared."
The buggy tomes had been returned to the library book drop at the College of Built Environments on the campus in Seattle.
Because of privacy protections, no record was retained to identify the patron with the pests. Lamson believes it's "someone who had an apartment or home infested and had books close to the bed probably for some time because bedbugs like small, dark contained spaces."
"They probably had a significant problem," she said.
Lamson says she is sick of bedbugs, especially after the attention the library is getting following a New York Times story. There's a very low risk of picking up bedbug at a library, she said.
"You don't need to be afraid of your library."
Staffers at the school's architecture library were checking in books in August when they spotted some small black dots.
"That made them look closer, and they realized there were some bedbugs in the spine of the books," said Stephanie Lamson, preservation librarian.
The bugs had crawled into the space that opens along the spine of hardcover books between the cover and the paper.
Concerned about an infestation, the staff took those books and others around them and quarantined them in plastic bags. After bugs turned up at the same library a second time that month, there were a total of about 45 potentially affected books. They de-bugged them in a natural history museum freezer.
High heat also kills bedbugs, but the library didn't want to risk damaging the books.
Since then, all of the university's libraries - there are more than a dozen - have been on the lookout for the insects, which can be difficult to eradicate. So far, no other facility has found any of the bugs.
Lamson said Friday a temperature of 18 degrees below zero killed the pests discovered in the architecture books.
The books were frozen for seven days, allowed to warm up for six days, and put back in the freezer for another week. The second dip in the deep freeze was to kill any bugs that hatched from eggs after the first chill.
"We also had a bedbug-sniffing dog come through, just to be very careful," Lamson said. "And we were cleared."
The buggy tomes had been returned to the library book drop at the College of Built Environments on the campus in Seattle.
Because of privacy protections, no record was retained to identify the patron with the pests. Lamson believes it's "someone who had an apartment or home infested and had books close to the bed probably for some time because bedbugs like small, dark contained spaces."
"They probably had a significant problem," she said.
Lamson says she is sick of bedbugs, especially after the attention the library is getting following a New York Times story. There's a very low risk of picking up bedbug at a library, she said.
"You don't need to be afraid of your library."
This actually doesn't really sound like bed bugs. I would hope they had them identified by a professional entomologist. "Small black dots in a book" is not a bed bug and sounds more like a booklouse or possibly collembola; or even fleas. And that New York Times article was blown hugely out of proportion and does not reflect what's really going on at the libraries.Â
And freezing is not an effective method of control for bed bugs. Just FYI.
<Lame joke warning>
Small black dots in books are called periods. If the dots are on the spine better read the books to find the ran on sentences they came from.
I would call this an innovative solution to an annoying problem. Good Show, Librarians!
I doubt that the UW library is any worse than any other library. This just shows how library patrons at any library can bring the bugs from their homes.
Freezing them huh? "Coming soon to a Dairy Queen near you.....the NEW Frozen Bedbug Blizzard!!" YUM!
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 @n9078jk4 Perhaps, but chemicals would also likely damage the books - not a good option for a library.
UW fleas and bed bugs. You guys need to wash more often.
Whenever I read or hear stories about bed bugs I feel itchy.
This is news?
 @AdAckbar Alot of folks don't realize that bed bugs can get in a lot of places other than houses and bedding. So yeah, I think its worthy.