Yes, that is absolutely correct. I, Tiffany, the collector of special edition, out of print, event only books had a case of the dreaded book lice.
Cue the screams.
To paint the picture let me do a quick rewind of recent events. A few weeks ago, one of my dogs was pretty sick. He kept having big accidents in my room in particular. Luckily, he is feeling much better and back to his normal goofy self. My carpets did not recover quite as well. Since I have older carpets in general, I wanted to get the big guns at this and rent a professional carpet cleaner, move all the furniture out of my room and get down to business.
Naturally, this lead me to moving every last book off my shelf and as I did.. there it was a dead bug and what looked like the littlest nibbles on my event only signed copy of ‘What Lurks Between the Fates’ by Adelaide Forrest.
When I tell you my entire went body went, both ears started ringing and felt like I was going to throw up, it’s no exaggeration.
Immediately, I vacuumed up the deceased culprit, separated the infected book from it’s friends and did a througholl investigation of the rest of my books and then practiced taking several deep breaths.
Luckily, if there’s anything my past trauma has given me it was the gift of being prepared for anything at a drop of a hat. I put all the books from the affected shelf into a grocery store bag, tied it at the top and tossed it into my deep freezer for kill any lingering bugs (I didn’t see any but I wasn’t taking any chances).
Next, I did a deep clean of my bookshelf. Dusting, sanitizing and then adding my normal dust cleaner. I also did a dry wipe on all books and of course, did a smoke cleanse across all the shelves for good measure.
After further research, I ordered a small dehumidifier to put in front of my book shelves, ordered silica packets (yes the ones we have in our shoes) and did yet another deep dive on proper book care. This might look excessive but they tuck in between books very easily and are SO cheap! Why not take the extra step?
I’m no stranger to attempting to prevent mold in my books. I regularly change out containers on my shelf for it but my foolish Washington native self underestimated the power of water in Washington. Within a day the amount of water the dehumidifier pulled SHOCKED me.
Honestly after seeing that I am thanking my lucky stars that I have not lost other books to this moisture. While I will likely be permanently scarred, my books will be treated like the treasures they truly are, not off days. And if I’m being real, all of this cost less than one book on my shelf… yeah, I deserved the scare 😮💨
This is your friendly reminder to go hug your books and check your any creepy crawlies.
I’m off to go praise my new hero and make sure it doesn’t need a mai thai or anything.
EDIT: What are Book Lice?
Book lice are tiny, parasitic insects that feed on the glue and paper in books. They are also known as psocids and can be identified by their small size (about 0.25 inches long), elongated body, and six legs. Book lice are usually light brown or gray in color and often go unnoticed until they start to swarm.
(Source: https://www.cleanandgreenpest.com.au/book-lice-how-to-get-rid-of-them-the-complete-guide/ )
Based off my research, book lice thrive in areas with moisture, humidity, high dust levels and areas with more mold. A of people have reported bringing home books from a used book store and then getting book lice but truly it come in from any book you bring in. You never know how it was properly stored before hand.
Just two months, I did a deep clean of my shelves and saw nothing.
The best solution to preventing book lice is in the preparation. I have a dehumidifier that lives right in front of my shelves (and I am shocked by how frequently I have to empty the tank), silica packets on my books and regular dusting. The embarrassing part is I should have already been doing this, all of it cost less than ONE special edition book.
