Branches have cloaked chairs in plastic and switched seat covers, but an expert says the critters can hide in borrowed books
by: Kelly Pedro
Bedbugs are checking in at some Ontario public libraries, but at others the tiny scourge hasn’t cropped up, thanks to some sharp eyes and pre-emptive moves to keep them at bay.
London library branches have been throwing the book at the teeny biters, switching out furniture for seating that doesn’t give bedbugs a place to hide, the library’s Ellen Hobin said.
Chatham-Kent public libraries have done the same, covering computer chairs in plastic and switching out casual seating to vinyl or leather, said the library’s Tania Sharpe.
Though the changes help, they won’t stop bedbugs from getting into the library, warns Jeremy McNeil, a biology professor at Western University.
“If someone borrows a book and they’ve got them and then they read in bed, for example, and just drop the book on the floor or put it on the night stand, as (bedbugs) are crawling around and looking for little tight places to hide, getting in the back of a book wouldn’t be out of the question.”
Bedbugs usually attack at night, biting people to get a blood meal and then hiding until they’re hungry, McNeil said.
Bedbugs have hitchhiked their way into London, but the tiny crawlers aren’t a major concern, said Iqbal Kalsi, the health unit’s environmental health manager.
“The challenge is any public place where people can come and go can create a problem because bedbugs are opportunists.”
Though most libraries have avoided the critters — there haven’t been any issues with bedbugs in Sarnia, Stratford or St. Thomas either — bedbugs, it seems, keep checking in at some libraries.
Toronto public library branches have had to manage the pests dozens of times since 2011 and a branch of the Oshawa public library was shut down last month after a bedbug sighting. Last year a Windsor library branch was closed briefly after a similar reported sighting.
from: Chatham Daily News
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