I don’t know how you wouldn’t know about these horrible little insects yet, but just in case you don’t; bed bugs are are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is the best known as it prefers to feed on human blood; other Cimex species specialize in other animals, e.g., bat bugs, such as Cimex pipistrelli (Europe), Cimex pilosellus (Western United States), and Cimex adjunctus (entire Eastern United States).
And these creepy crawlies aren’t just invading our homes, now it seems that these lowly insects are forcing county officials to close the Brandon library for three days. The county is bringing in a pest control company to inspect and treat the twenty-five thousand square foot building after library staffers found the bugs in some recently returned books Tuesday morning.
The branch at 619 Vonderburg Drive is expected to reopen Friday. All scheduled events and programs at the branch have been canceled until it reopens.
The employees were sorting materials in a workroom before the library opened and immediately threw away the bug-infested books when they made the discovery, said county spokeswoman Michelle VanDyke.
“Out of an abundance of caution they’ll sweep the entire building,” VanDyke said.
County officials could not provide the titles of the discarded books.
The pest control company will use heat remediation to treat the building, which is most effective and doesn’t require toxic chemicals, said Chely Cantrell, Manager of Library Development. The treatment will cost about $6,000.
The Brandon branch saw 17,298 library visits in January, according to county figures. That’s an average of 558 each day.
Residents looking for a library fix elsewhere can locate their nearest branch by visiting the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System’s website at hcplc.org/locations.
In general, bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) have been making a comeback in the United States over the past decade, pest specialists say, and libraries throughout the nation have been infested because so many people spend time in these public buildings.
After a spate of bug sightings in libraries in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Pinellas Park a few years ago, Pinellas County’s libraries established new policies, such as inspecting returned books more thoroughly and bringing in bedbug-sniffing dogs on a quarterly basis to hunt for the insects.
