NORTH Shore libraries are keeping an eye on the bed bugs found in books, but so far have uncovered no creepy crawlies this side of the inlet.
The District of North Vancouver is working on a change of policy that will see quarterly pest inspections of the libraries, regardless of whether they notice a problem, and the creation of a Frequently Asked Questions section for library users, said director of library services Heather Scoular.
"I think the awareness has really come to the fore," she said, referring to live and dead bed bugs found in books first at a library in Burnaby, then in New Westminster and Vancouver.
But Scoular, like other directors of North Shore libraries, said staff have so far found no bugs in books, and it's already routine for books to be opened and have their pages flipped through whenever they're returned, whether the book comes from the public or from another library.
"Part of our regular practices of always checking the conditions of everything. We've already been on top of things from that perspective and if there was something we would know," she said.
Nor have pests been a major problem before - once, a dead insect was found in a district branch within the last few years, but a pest inspection turned up nothing. Nobody at the city or West Vancouver could remember something similar.
Jenny Benedict, director of library services for West Vancouver Memorial Library, said they have reviewed their procedures, but are happy with what's in place.
"I think what changed for us is we just reassured ourselves we were doing all the right preventative measures, and we feel confident that we are," she said.
Chief librarian Jane Watkins at the City of North Vancouver library also said they're not doing anything different now.
"We are in waiting stage, I would say," she said, adding it's a societal issue to be aware of, but there's been no trouble since the new library opened.
Library users who find bed bugs at home, however, might want to take out one book in particular: The Bed Bug Survival Guide by Jeff Eisenberg.
tholloway@nsnews.com
