KALAMAZOO, Mich.– Kalamazoo Public Library’s Washington Square Branch, located at 1244 Portage St., will remain closed until further notice after an incident involving bed bugs.
An inspection done by Griffin Pest Solutions on Tuesday did not find any live bugs inside the library. However, the building is still going to be treated for the pests as a precaution, according to Farrell Howe, Marketing and Communications Manager for Kalamazoo Public Library.
“We want to be sure,” said Howe.
A detection dog trained to sniff out bed bugs was used during the inspection.
The treatment involves heating and is typically costly.
“It will be expensive, but we don’t know the exact cost right now,” said Howe.
The branch was shut down on Friday after library workers found bed bugs inside several of the books in the return drop box, hiding in the bindings and pages.
As part of standard library procedure, the books were immediately quarantined and placed in plastic bags and disposed of.
The branch was then shut down.
The library staff began checking all books for bed bugs in the fall after infestations became more prevalent across the country and in Southwest Michigan.
“Bed bugs are night feeders,” said Howe. “People tend to go to bed with their books, so they lay down and they will have the book next to their bed and during the day they go and hide,” said Howe.
5 Comments to “No Bed Bug Contamination At Library; Still Closed”
February 12, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Boy oh boy with these bed bugs! One day they're in a hospital and the next day a movie theater now they find them in a library book. For twenty years now i have been the owner of a pest control company in brooklyn new york named northeastern exterminating. For those of you who do not know much about brooklyn, we are one of the bed bug capitals of the 50 states. in recent years some other states have taken that title, but one time or another new york was a big bed bug whammy state. Within the past 5 years alone we have been bombarded with calls for bed bug service and more importantly advice about bed bugs. In the case of this story and many others, there is a great problem with the spread of bed bugs. I think that their is a lack of governmental structure when it comes to pest control. The government should be publicly educating the citizens at the federal, state and local levels to help prevent the un necessary spread of bed bugs. I try as much as i can, free of charge, to answer anyones questions about bed bugs. if you have any questions or need any advice about anything having to do with bed bugs please don't hesitate to visit my site at http://www.bedbugs-brooklyn.com and click on the contact us form and send me any questions you may have. Eradicating bed bugs in a very expensive and psychologically draining task so the best place to start is preventing bringing them home in the first place. I think bed bugs are under estimated and people think that they understand the behavior of bed bugs. Please inform your self asap so you know what to do when you find out a classmate in your child's class has bed bugs, or even a co-worker at work may have a case at home. You dont want to be the next victim of these parasites.
February 13, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Cedar Point (Sandusky Oh) is completely infested with bed bugs… every single employee that works there that lives in their facilities has them. The apartments are infested and the dorm rooms are infested. Who brought them there is of no consequence now as the entire place is without hope. They employ hundreds and hundreds of young people from around the globe and these people carry them with them every where they go. When anyone complains – they switch rooms and treat that one room with heat. Anyone who is anyone knows that this is not stopping the bugs. How do I know this? My daughter worked there and had to stay in the dorms – she lost EVERYTHING that she took there with her as well as her health because everything was so infested. It was nothing short of a train wreck from the 1st day she was there until she left. They worked her worse than a child slave factory at 12-14 hour shifts and then sent her on back to her room where she was basically eaten alive and wore out. The way they treat their employees is beyond any degradation that I have ever seen. Disgusting! I have visited and enjoyed CP since I was a child but I will never see them in the same light again after what I now know! Please think twice before allowing YOUR child to work there or live in their quarters. Most of the kids there have absolutely NO idea! Shame on HR at CP!!!
April 10, 2013 at 10:44 AM
So I am curious as to what you would spray a non-infested building with? What product would you use for bed bug control when you do not see any bed bugs? A bug bomb? A run of the mill spot treatment, or maybe a fog treatment? Regardless, I do commend the county for being diligent about getting rid of the bed bug problem
April 12, 2013 at 1:23 PM
How many books are there in this library? Checking every book for the presence of bed bugs can be potentially a monumental task depending on the volume of books. Where would a bed bug hide in a book anyways? In the ceases in between pages?