Oshawa library treated for bed bugs

Oshawa library treated for bed bugs. OSHAWA -- There have been reports that bed bugs were discovered in the McLaughlin Branch of the Oshawa Public Library. November 21, 2012 Jason Liebregts / Metroland

Lots of libraries have been having this issue, we've been fortunate not to have this problem until recently. Margaret Wallace

Margaret Wallace, manager of customer and circulation services at the Oshawa Public Libraries, said a program was underway at the branch on Nov. 15 when a participant noticed a bed bug on their person at the McLaughlin Branch, 65 Bagot St.

"The staff have been trained to identify them, so the staff member immediately took the appropriate action, got everyone to check themselves," said Ms. Wallace.

All the participants were advised to throw their clothes in the dryer on high heat for 30 minutes when they got home.

"We closed the room down and we called our pest control company in to do a completed identification, which we did, and we treated the room and it's going to reopen tomorrow," she said on Nov. 21.

A sweep of the McLaughlin Branch the previous month had not identified bed bugs.

The Oshawa library has a bed bug protocol for dealing with the issue and in October a professional exterminator and a bed-bug sniffing dog inspected the city's four library branches.

"It was hard to get the dog, she's from Kitchener, and she's very busy," said Ms. Wallace.

There were no bed bugs found at the Jess Hann or the McLaughlin branches, but two chairs were identified at the Legends branch. The chairs were bagged and treated. The dog also sniffed at a wall area at the Northview branch and it was treated as a precaution.

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Oshawa library treated for bed bugs