QUINCY – In these pandemic times when a public facility suddenly closes, it is usually due to a COVID-19 outbreak. When the Quincy Library closed last Thursday it was due to bed bugs.
Bill Carrol, director of branch operations for NCW Libraries, said some DVDs that returned to the Quincy branch last week contained some bugs. Quincy library staff immediately notified the Wenatchee administration team, he said.
Bill Carroll
Director of Branch Operations, NCW Libraries
“These insects were found to be bed bugs,” Carroll said. “To keep the public and our employees safe, we partnered with various pest control companies to confirm they were indeed bed bugs.” We have closed this library so that a renovation can take place. “
The customers who returned the bed bug DVDs were also notified, he said.
Bed bugs are insects of the genus Cimex that normally feed on human blood at night. Your bites can lead to a number of health effects, including rashes, psychological effects, and allergy symptoms.
“We had a pest control company on Monday that was doing chemical treatment. We follow this up with a heat treatment of our DVD section in which the errors were identified. Between the chemical treatment and the heat treatment, we should be ready, ”said Carroll.
Staff will take time on Wednesday while the store is closed to heat treat the affected items, he said. Afterward, Carroll said there would be a follow-up with the pest control company to make sure the library is in order.
The library is scheduled to reopen on Thursday.
Carroll said bed bugs were not a problem in any of the 30 branches of the NCW libraries, but he had previously looked at bed bugs.
“Personally, I’m pretty new to this organization. I’ve been here since last September. I had studied bed bugs in my previous public library organization in Iowa. It is unfortunate. Wherever there are people, there are bed bugs. These animals travel all over the place, ”he said.
