In which book burners annoy Miss Information
One of the local papers recently published a front page article about bed bugs in the library. Yeah, well. Bugs are many places. Little bastards.
So, unsurprisingly this has caused some concern among the patrons and Miss Information's mother who doesn’t go to the library but likes to worry about things. In any case the library has many branches and a relatively small number of confirmed bed bug appearances.
Recently Miss Information was pleased to see a book she had recently recommended on the library website sitting outside her supervisor’s office. She was slightly puzzled that it was carefully placed in a ziplock bag.
Did the book she had publicly endorsed have bed bugs? Oh, boy! How cool is that?
Unfortunately her supervisor crushed her dreams. Maybe the book had a bed bug. Maybe it didn't. The patron decided to be proactive with the book, you know with the library having bed bugs and all, you can't be too careful. In order to sanitize the book prior to reading, the patron did what any sensible, thinking person would. They microwaved it because yeah, that should kill bed bugs, right?
And it might have worked. Or perhaps not. Sciencey websites suggest that bed bugs are too feisty to be dispatched so easily. Science is awesome. Please note that it took Miss Information about 6 seconds to search online and discover this.
This library patron was a do-it-yourself type apparently and just went right ahead and popped that book into their oven. Instead of killing the bugs (which may not have been there in the first place), this innovative microwaving process set the book on fire because (look surprised, everyone) paper burns.
It also left Miss Information wondering who would think it’s a good idea to put something that’s infested with vermin into a device that’s used to cook food? Ick.
Oh members of the public, Miss Information will never tire of your kooky antics!
4 Comments:
Any fule no that rap book in aluminum foil and use toaster to kil bugs with only mild scoreching of papers. Crazy peoples.
This is hilarious and then terrifying and then hilarious again.
Putting the book in the freezer for a week is much more efficient (and less harmful to the book).
Maybe an education campaign is in order - on how to treat books (and bed bugs!)
It was pointed out to me by another library staffer that the real culprit is the security tag inside each book, which consists of thin metal coils which cause impressive arcing, followed by ignition, in microwaves.
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