Bedbugs Found in Hamden Library

Exterminators worked at Hamden's libraries late this week to make sure there's no trace of bedbugs.

The libraries closed on Friday after bedbugs were reported in a book taken out at Miller Memorial Library earlier this week. After a patron reported the find, library and town officials called in the exterminators, who found evidence of bedbugs in several sections at Miller.

Signs on the doors of the library said the facility was closed due to a staff shortage but later in the day town officials confirmed that it was the discovery of bed bugs and the ensuing extermination that closed the doors.

Bedbugs have become a common problem across the country, especially in hotels in large cities such as New York City. And libraries haven't been immune.

Last month , and on Friday Mayor Scott Jackson told WTNH in an interview that Hamden would be following Middletown's lead by asking Hamden library patrons to return books in ziplock bags to make sure any bedbugs are contained when returned to the facility.

Bedbugs are flat brown bugs the size of an apple seed, according to the website WebMd.com. Like ticks, they live off the blood of animals or humans and their bodies swell after feeding, according to the site.

Other facts about bedbugs, from WebMd.com:

• Bedbugs do not fly, but can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime.

• Under favorable conditions they develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year.

• Although they are a nuisance, they do not transmit diseases.

• Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds and couches, and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces about the width of a credit card. 

• Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night.

• Because bedbugs live solely on blood, having them in your home is not a sign of dirtiness. You are as likely to find them in immaculate homes and hotel rooms as in filthy ones.

Other signs that you have bedbugs include:

• Blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases
• Dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls
• Bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide
• An offensive, musty odor from the bugs' scent glands