Kim Rickey - Learning Retrospective

I participated in the PLA webinar, "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite" facilitated by Wichita Public Library Collection Development Manager, Sarah Kitrell. Sarah shared her experience with identifying and treating bed bugs in a library setting when the situation occurred at her branch.

According to a 2015 Bugs Without Borders Survey, 99.6% of pest professional have treated bed bugs in the past year, significantly higher than 15 years ago when only 25% of pest professionals had treated for bed bugs.

With a more mobile society, the likelihood of bed bugs being introduced into a public library setting has also increased. Bed bugs do not have fly, jump, or hop but walk to their food source (people). Bed bugs can live up to 10 feet away from were they feed. They are opportunistic transients who can hide in book spines, book jackets, and crevices of furniture.

Why worry about bed bugs if you haven't noticed any in your branch yet? In six months, one mated, female bed bug introduced into a location can result in 121,409 nymphs (young bed bugs) and 7,848 adult bed bugs and 169,490 bites.

Sarah stressed the importance of staff being able to identify a bed bug, whose eggs can are as small as 1mm, or bug damage. Bed bugs have five instar nymph life cycles and must feed in order to progress to the next cycle leaving behind the shed outer skin. What may appear as a felt tip pen marking or a smear on a book could actually be the bed bug's excrement as they sometimes discharge the remains of a previous meal while feeding. A single dot on the outside of a book may actually contain more smears on the inside.

Sarah noted the 6 steps of bed bug introduction:
Identification of a bed bug or bug damage
Quarantine
Inspection
Treatment
Follow-up with customer(including suspension of privileges, if applicable)
Reinstatement of privileges

Since bed bugs cannot survive when their body temperature reaches 45* C (113 degrees Fahrenheit) heat has been an effective method of killing the bugs. Libraries can purchase enclosed heating units to place contaminated materials to kill the bugs.

Sarah also discussed the need for libraries to have a policy in place to handle customers suspected of having a bed bug infestation, media relations, and the public at large.

Remember that just because you find a bed bug or carcass does not mean there is an infestation. Diligence is needed to ensure that no contaminated materials are returned to the shelf to contaminate other materials or furniture.

Important to note that having bed bugs does not imply that a person's socioeconomic level. Bed bugs are only concerned if you have their feeding source, blood.