What to do if your books get infested by insects sharing your tastes in literature?
I like to buy my books used and preferably in lots. It doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the lovely scent of just out of print books and don’t treat myself to those every now and then… But used books have lots of advantages, namely:
- They are really cheap. It’s actually sad how cheap they are. Some of them (mostly classics) sell on Amazon for £0.01 with an added price for delivery and I was wondering for ages, how is anyone able to make profit from that? Guess what – those sellers get the books for free. From the libraries. The libraries that send thousands of books to the landfill annually. So those guys are actually sort of heroes: they save the books that otherwise would have been destroyed, and destroying them is bad for the environment because of the toxic ink and special glue that holds the pages together. A win-win for everyone then.
- There are some beautiful editions that you can’t find in current print. I’m talking leather-bound, gold-gilded, picture perfect extravaganza of tomes that could be admired without reading a single word from them.
- Last but not least – used books carry the souls of their previous owners with them. Have you noticed how reading a good book changes you in a minuscule (or on occasion a grand) but nevertheless important way? So this actual book you are holding made impact on someone’s life before, and sometimes (my favourite times!) you can even glimpse a bit of the person who read it – be it dog-eared pages, pencil markings or a train ticket stuck between the pages.
As for the disadvantages – used books had none of them for me. Until recently, when I bought an entire collection of c.300 books and, elated and giddy, started going through them one by one and found some funny holes in Anthony Burgess’s paperback. ‘How funny these holes are, look here!’ – I smiled at my husband, pointing at branch-like clean shapes (picture above), cut through every single page down to the cover of the book, gradually disappearing into a single dot, and then it hit me – something ate through it!
So I Googled and Googled and found a fair amount of information, including British Library article about book infestation, advising how to protect collections. I will share this with you bookworms, so no one ever gorges your favourite fiction except for yourself!
First things first – how do you know if your books are infested? Most bugs love it when you leave them to their business of munching through your stuff, so they prefer dark, damp places where they don’t get disturbed. Breadcrumbs between the pages also help to get some started. Since they eat a lot, they have to, you know, go somewhere, so look for the piles of grainy dust also known as frass (read: bug poo) on your bookshelves. (It might even colour match the book covers if the bugs were eating those! Awww!)
Flip though your books. See holes, spots, or tunnels – like the ones I have found? Congratulations, your library became public. It’s time to close it for quarantine that will last long/longer than long/a lifetime – depending on the amount of books you own.
Where do you ship off the poor infested soulmates? Here’s the best part – remember Friends episode where Joey puts his copy of ’The Shining’ in the freezer, not to be afraid? Hint hint! No joking, you will put them in the freezer. But first, get your books into a ziploc plastic bag, from which you will need to squeeze all air to avoid condensation. (Ikea hoarders, this is your moment to shine – I have used my double-seal Ikea bags for that – see below).
Leave the scary book in your freezer for 72 hours if you’re in a rush or for 3 weeks if you want dead certainty bugs, larvae and eggs are dead, and then move the bag into your fridge to thaw. This is the moment when you throw a big party, friends come to grab cold drinks from your fridge, see your thawing books there and decide you’re hopelessly but charmingly weird.
Inspect the bookshelves and decide what to do with them – if you see signs of bug activity you might want to get rid of them or treat them with a pesticide.
If your book collection is bigger than could be freezer-proofed in a lifetime, then consider commercial freezing, or other professional ways to kill the bugs – Thermo Lignum humidity-controlled chambers, nitrogen anoxia or oxygen scavengers. Another point to note – do not freeze leather bound books, because fats contained in certain types of leather may rise to the surface if the leather is frozen.
And remember: prevention is key! Dust regularly, rearrange your heart out to take perfect shelfies, set a few traps for crawlies and – best of all – read all of your books!
Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the book bugs bite!