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Holly,
We have treated general collections books by air blast freezing to at
least -20 degrees F for several days, thawing for 5-7 days, and
repeating the freezing cycle. The books are tightly sealed in plastic
bags within standard records boxes. The rationale for the second cycle
is that the eggs will hatch and these insects will then be vulnerable to
the next freezing treatment. Most of the salvage vendors who will treat
wet books by freezing will also treat infestation for your collections
in this way.
I'm aware that the Low Temperature Treatment Fact Sheet at
Museumpests.net indicates that recent research points to the repeat
cycle being considered unnecessary.
http://www.museumpests.net/treatment.asp Does anyone have comments on
this? We've found it easy to include a thaw cycle, the major demand on
our time is packing the books, so a repeat step has seemed a simple
precaution.
Alexis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexis Hagadorn
Head of Conservation
Columbia University Libraries
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027
212-854-3580
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prochaska, Holly (prochah) wrote:
Colleagues,
I am trying to work on a procedure for treating bound paper materials
that have bedbugs. We haven’t had any confirmed sightings yet in
materials, but considering our State-wide problem I fear it is just a
matter of time. I've seen plenty of good information related to
facilities, but not a lot related to caring for books that have been
affected. The most common quick quip is that they should be "cooked"
at temperatures around 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours. I've not
seen any indication what they are being cooked in. There is a device
called Packtite that gets some mention on blogs, but not on any
conservation/preservation sites. NEDCC, LOC, and Lyrasis sites don't
have anything yet either. From what I’ve read freezing apparently
doesn’t kill the egg stage. My concern right now is the general
circulating collection, so freezing might be the only option for
rare/unique materials….
Has your institution started tackling this question? Any help would be
appreciated!
Holly Prochaska
Head, Preservation Services
University of Cincinnati Libraries
Tele:513-556-1389
Fax:513-556-0325
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