Library books and bed bugs

[Anonymous]

We go to the library quite frequently and check out books. Often my kids love books they and myself will read them in our beds. I do give books a once over and a good shake before checking them out, but is this enough? How big is the risk of getting bed bugs from library books?

I recently asked a librarian about it and she said every book is inspected before it is put back into circulation and they have pest control come by monthly and they bring the sniffing dogs in twice per year.

Do you check out items from the library and if so, do you take any precautions?

[Anonymous]

I had never even thought about this. I would not expect books would be a place they could hide. Oye. New thing to worry about

[Anonymous]

Maybe not the most authoritative source, but

https://www.bustle.com/p/can-you-get-bed-bugs-from-a-library-book-technically-yes-but-entomologists-say-its-more-complicated-than-that-8236894

[Anonymous]

It has never occured to me to do this. We also read library books in bed.

[Anonymous]

I leave the library books in a hot car for a day. In the sun it gets up to sth like 140 deg, which should be enough to kill anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I leave the library books in a hot car for a day. In the sun it gets up to sth like 140 deg, which should be enough to kill anything

So in the fall and winter you don’t go to the library?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I leave the library books in a hot car for a day. In the sun it gets up to sth like 140 deg, which should be enough to kill anything

And In the winter...?

OP, I have never worried about this.

[Anonymous]

I also have a lot of anxiety about bed bugs and I’ve considered getting a dryer shelf to heat up books on.

[Anonymous]

Never thought about it, and never had problems in 15 years of using the public library, and reading in bed.

[Anonymous]

I once had bedbugs and it was a horrific experience. Yet, I still check out library books. If you read up on what can bring bedbugs into your home, just about anything has the potential for bedbugs -- your clothes, your bags, things you buy from the store, things you bring home from work and school. You would have to bring nothing into your home to negate all the risk. So I look the books over and just accept the risk.

[Anonymous]

I put used books / library books in the freezer for 7 days.

https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/freezing

[Anonymous]

I also have a lot of anxiety about bed bugs and I’ve considered getting a dryer shelf to heat up books on.

[Anonymous]

No, I haven't.

But I am careful about clothes purchases in this area after having a bedbug come home with me after purchasing new clothes.

[Anonymous]

We had bed bugs (probably from the airplane) and it was the most horrible experience. My children were little then and they bit one of them on the face all the time.

We had to launder all our clothes and tie them up in trash bags before the guy came and sprayed our house. We had to be out of the house every week, for a few hours, after he came and sprayed.

Considering that my kids were little, he did mild doses of the spray. After he left, we had to spray every day in corners etc.

It didn't go away even after 2 months of treatment and the final time he sprayed quite a bit and we were out of the house for a longer time that day. They died finally.

[Anonymous]

Technically you could get bedbugs in the mail or in your Amazon delivery. Do you have anxiety about that too?