University of Alberta treating Rutherford Library for bed bugs

The first floor of University of Albertas largest library has been temporarily closed to treat for bed bugs, the university said Friday.

Sharon Murphy, associate university librarian, said a student reported seeing a bed bug Monday on a backpack near a bank of public computers on the first floor of the north side of Rutherford Library.

Murphy said staff immediately contacted facility and operations who in turn contacted pest control management company who brought in a canine detection unit.

They confirmed the presence of bed bugs in a cluster of about a dozen mesh chairs in a small localized area.

Those chairs were bagged and immediately removed, Murphy said.

From that moment on, the company has following their regular procedures for dealing with bed bugs, Murphy said.

On Saturday computers and tables in the area will be removed and processed in a heat chamber, she said.

A total of 50 chairs are being removed and heat-treated off site.

Murphy said there is nothing to suggest bed bugs had infested the library books but as a precaution, staff have asked the company to check the rest of the library.

That way we can feel really comfortable and confident when we open on Sunday morning, she said.

This is not the first time bed bugs have been reported in the library. Last winter, the fifth floor was treated after reports of bed bugs surfaced.

The Rutherford Library, which opened in 1951 and is the largest library on campus and the second largest research library in Canada, is expected to re-open at 11 a.m. Sunday.

We want to reassure our community of users it is highly localized, its being treated and we are, as a precaution, checking to make sure everything else is fine, she said.

jgraney@postmedia.com

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University of Alberta treating Rutherford Library for bed bugs

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