Going a Little Batty

A Friday afternoon wouldn’t be normal without something out of the norm happening right before closing time.  A couple of weeks ago, I got a frantic call from Special Collections informing me that they had an unusual critter stuck in one of their sticky traps.  As the resident “bug lady,” I grabbed a plastic bag, and our volunteer Martha grabbed some latex gloves.  Then we made our way over to see what lovely creature was paying our co-workers a visit.

A bat! Not the typical small spider or lady beetle that I occasionally find in my sticky traps.

According to the Iowa State Extension website, Iowa bats are the size of a mouse or smaller and weigh about half an ounce.  Iowa bats feast on insects – they can eat up to 2000 mosquitoes on a warm summer night!  I can only guess that this fellow managed to get in and needed some chow to settle a rumbling tummy.

We are unsure how he made his way into Special Collections, but I have come to find out that he is not the first bat to find its way into the Library.  There have also been reports of the occasional bat in our loading dock area.  We all know that pests in libraries are not a good thing, but I will confess that he was kind of cute and a nice change from the usual bugs, although I hope his buddies keep their distance!

 

Preservation: Student Perspectives IV

Today’s post is part of our continuing series of blog posts from the students in Honors Seminar 321V, Smelling Old Books: The Art & Science of Preserving Our Past.  The students were asked to consider ways in which learning about heritage preservation has changed their attitude about any aspect of their relationship to the objects around them in their daily lives and habits.

Sydney McKechnie

One thing that I’ve learned in this class is that clothing needs to be refolded about every six months. In my family we have a white, Chinese silk dress that all the girls in my family have worn for their First Eucharist. It’s kept in a box in a closet. It probably hasn’t been touched in 9 years. So, I’ve learned that we need to take it out once in a while, air it out, and refold it, so that it will still be in its original form by the time our various children can wear it. If we don’t refold it, the creasing can damage the fabric and leave permanent creases.

Kaylee Becker

I love sticky notes! In fact, I cover everything with them. I never thought sticky notes could be potentially damaging. That is until in class one day when Melissa mentioned an experience with her old college textbooks. She had put sticky notes in her textbooks years ago and had never removed them from the pages. Once she tried to take them out, the sticky notes left a residue mark on the pages. It makes sense because the sticky part of the note has glue in it. Now I am going to be more careful about where I put sticky notes and when I use them. I suppose I’ll have to start using sticky notes in moderation!

Amanda Bernemann

Before taking this class, I did not realize how eating in the library could affect the collections. I just assumed that as long as I was careful and didn’t spill anything directly on the books, it would be just fine. After we talked about pest control though, I saw things a little bit differently. Even if the food itself does not directly affect the collection, what it attracts does. Now I realize that spilling or leaving crumbs anywhere in the library can attract pests. These bugs can eat away at the paper or the bindings of the books. They can get smashed between the pages or leave other traces. They can even attract bigger pests who come to feed on them. While before this class, I probably wouldn’t have gone as far as to have pizza delivered to the library, I did still consume food and coffee in the library and not give a thought to it. Now I know that limiting where food and beverage is consumed has a purpose other than to just annoy me. Now that I know the damage I could have potentially caused, I will know how to prevent it in the future.

 

Our Expanded Insect Collection

Insects in the ISU Library Preservation Department's collection

It may seem a bit strange to keep jars of dead insects among our lab’s reference materials, but having real specimens on hand as identification and teaching aids provides an invaluable supplement to handbooks, websites, and photographs of environmental pests.  We’ve got carpet beetles, cockroaches, and even a praying mantis.

Our honors seminar students supplemented our collection by bringing in insects which they had captured and identified (a class assignment borrowed from Karen Pavelka at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information).  The students reported on the habits and life cycles of their insects, with particular emphasis on whether or not the insects represented a threat to collection materials.

Among the new additions to our “files” are field crickets, a cockroach, a silverfish, and a picnic beetle.

 

R.I.P. “Roachie” the Cockroach

This morning, as I stepped off the elevator onto the 4th floor of the library (where our lab is located), I was greeted by Mindy, our conservation technician, who was on a stake-out.  She had seen an enormous cockroach scuttling out of the men’s bathroom, and had her eyes glued to its trashcan hiding place while she waited for reinforcements.  A moment later, the other Mindy, our preservation assistant, emerged from the lab with a glass speciman jar, which she handed off to me with evident relief.  After a few false starts, I finally managed to corral the devious, speedy bug, and we returned triumphantly to the lab with our quarry.

As it turned out, “Roachie” (as one of our interns dubbed the nasty little bugger) was one of four large, American cockroaches spotted on various floors of the library this week.  You’ve all heard the adage that for every one cockroach you see, hundreds more are infesting the building.  Therefore, four cockroach sightings did not make any of us very happy in Preservation.

The Preservation Department monitors for pests using pheremone traps, which are checked quarterly.  In the past, the traps evidenced so few pests that checking them monthly seemed unwarranted.  Since Bookends Cafe opened on the first floor of Parks Library  in November, 2006, there had been no significant increase in insect activity within the library.  Until now, that is.  I’m wondering if the recent decrease in janitorial staff due to budgetary constraints could be a factor in current roach activity.

In general, although I am a conservator, I do support having a cafe in the library.  The cafe creates a more comfortable work environment not only for students and researchers, but for library staff as well, and ultimately, I truly believe a library should serve the needs of its users.  However, accepting certain conditions, like allowing food near collections, necessitates an equal measure of increased vigilance and care in monitoring and maintaining those collections.  We’re not yet sure what has catalyzed these recent cockroach sightings, but it’s a question that needs to be answered and acted upon quickly.