Bedbugs hitch ride on library books

BRISTOL — Things are getting back to normal at Minot-Sleeper Library after a bedbug scare led to a multi-day closure last week.

Signs of bedbugs were found in a bag of borrowed material returned to the library, said Rosemary D’Arcy, who heads the library’s Board of Trustees.

The library was closed on May 11 and was reopened on May 16.

A patron known for borrowing many books and DVDs had a bedbug problem in his home and the insects got on library material, D'Arcy said.

The suspect material in the bag was thrown out, as were other items the patron had borrowed in the past. People who borrowed books or DVDs the patron had returned were advised of the situation, but no evidence of secondary infestations were found.

An exterminator was brought in, but no treatment was needed in the library. Health officials were called and the patron was told not to return to the library until the home infestation had been eradicated.

D’Arcy said the staff did everything right.

“As soon as they realized there was a problem with the material, they reacted quickly, closed the library, disposed the material,” she said. “It’s very unlikely that even if we had a live bug in the library that it would survive.”

Unlike bookworms, bed bugs do not dine on books or bindings. They take nourishment from human blood. If a person reads a book in bed or anywhere there is an infestation, the insect could get on the book.  

Rachel Maccini, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension entomologist, said she had not heard of bedbugs getting on library material but sees how it could be possible. 

“They can walk and get on different things,” she said. “That’s how they get around, by hitchhiking. They can be anywhere.”

Hotels, college dormitories and residences from the fancy to the mundane can all have infestations, which can be treated with heat and pesticides.

Bedbugs do no transfer disease or cause systemic illness, Maccini said. Lack of awareness about the insect and the mobility of modern society contribute to their prevalence.

There have been reports of bedbugs getting on library material elsewhere, but local library officials say they can’t recall it happening in the region.

Minot-Sleeper Library Director Brittany Overton, who holds a master’s degree in library and information science, said the bedbug issue took her by surprise.

“As a public librarian, I’m aware that things are introduced to these environments -- the common cold or other things -- but as a librarian, I’ve never dealt with bedbugs in a library until now,” she said. ”This is something we never talked about in college.”