Insects and old books

A few members of our staff who are involved in the retrospective
conversion of our older books have been experiencing insect bites not
only on exposed skin but on the lower leg, underneath pants. These bites
are extremely itchy, can last a few weeks, and have a whitish center.

These bugs are so tiny that no one has ever seen them. We think that
they are inside the books, and only those opening them experience the
bites. The pages who bring the books from the stacks aren't having any
trouble, and the woman who barcodes the books after Catalog is finished
with them has no problem either.

We are being fumigated in a few days; but if these insects are inside
our old books (of which we have a lot left to recon) it seems that this
problem will just keep occurring. Does anyone have any experience
similar to ours? Thanks, in advance,

Linda M. Gonzalez
Catalog Librarian
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-622-3143

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 8:4
                   Distributed: Sunday, June 26, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-4-008
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