Bugs that like to feast on books could be making a meal of your San Antonio library.
For those who love to read and collect books, every volume is precious. Whether they’re well-worn modern paperbacks or stunning leather-bound antiques, keeping books in top condition is important when maintaining your personal library. Unfortunately, there are pests that enjoy books just as much as you do—except they enjoy literary treasures for eating, not reading.
Common library pests include cockroaches, silverfish, beetles, booklice and even termites. Each likes to dine on different parts of books. Infestations of any of these can cause a great deal of damage if not identified and dealt with quickly. Pests see books as sources of food and won’t hesitate to nibble on or burrow through the volumes that you’ve worked so hard to collect.
Cockroaches like to munch on cloth bindings and the edges of pages, leaving behind light patches and rough edges. Silverfish enjoy eating page surfaces, especially those with a coating, as well as glue and book bindings. Beetles may create holes by burrowing through entire books or eat the glue that holds bindings together. Booklice are fond of old, moldy books, while termites love anything that contains cellulose, which means they’ll eat any part of a book.
In general, book-eating insects prefer areas that are warm, damp and safe. If the air in your library is on the moist side, it’s a good idea to install some kind of dehumidifying system to dry it out. Cooling your library, especially during the heat of San Antonio summers, is a smart move as well. The less hospitable the environment is to bugs, the better off your books will be.
If you do discover an insect or two hanging around, look for signs of others such as piles of fine, sandy-colored dust or small brown pellets and stains. These may indicate that beetles and roaches have been feeding on your books. Small holes and chewed-on paper edges are other telltale signs of a potential infestation.
Don’t let these pests make a mess of your treasured volumes. ABC Home & Commercial Services can assess any threat that may be lurking in your library and send trained specialists to take care of the problem—we’ll even give you a free estimate. Public and private libraries in the San Antonio area can call us for reliable pest control services that ensure the safety and longevity of precious book collections.