Dear Buck: Did the Loveland library ever get rid of its bedbugs? – Loveland Reporter-Herald

Dear Buck: Did the library ever get its bedbug problem fully resolved?

Signed: Itchy

Dear Itchy:

In a word: no.

We just had a bedbug check last Friday (May 15), and unfortunately, they did find some in that same location they found them before, said Diane Lapierre, director of the Loveland Public Library.

A bit of background: On Feb. 27, library staff members found bedbugs in the second-floor computer lab and immediately closed off the area. A crew applied a chemical treatment the next day, and the area reopened the following Monday, March 2.

At the time, Lapierre said the tiny insects hadnt been found anywhere else in the library nor in any of the books.

Last week, Lapierre told me the library had arranged for a bedbug-sniffing dog to nose things out once a month, and the dog alerted to some fabric panels in the computer area, although the staff had removed some panels back in February.

So the citys facilities crews have restarted weekly chemical spraying, she said.

We are not letting down our guard. Were taking every action that we can to get rid of them as quickly as we can, she said. They are pesky little critters.

The good news is theyve stayed isolated in that area of the library, she said, and no bug has hitched a ride home with a staff member or patron. The bad news is that there are still a couple of them there.

This isnt the first time Lapierre has done battle with the tenacious little bloodsuckers.

I worked at the Denver Public Library for over 20 years, and we had a major issue with bedbugs, which are common in public facilities such as hotels, movie theaters and libraries, she said. Its definitely not unique to Loveland.

Some pest-control companies use high heat to kill bedbugs, but the library is just too big for that technique to be effective, she said.

I suggested that with the library being closed for coronavirus precautions for two months, the bedbugs, which feed on human blood, might have starved by now.

It takes them a year to starve to death, she said.

Displaying a wry sense of humor in the midst of one situation on top of another, she said: Theres nothing like some bedbugs to distract us from the coronavirus.

Buck Thompson finds answers to questions regarding life in Loveland. Send your questions to news@reporter-herald.com with Dear Buck in the subject line, or write to Reporter-Herald Buck Thompson, at P.O. Box Y, Berthoud, CO 80513.

Go here to see the original:
Dear Buck: Did the Loveland library ever get rid of its bedbugs? - Loveland Reporter-Herald