Four libraries in the Public Library InterLINK system, which includes the Tri-Cities, will soon have new machines working at night to detect bed bugs in their collections.
Rhiann Piprell, director of the Coquitlam Public Library, said while the City Centre and Poirier branches have had "no occurrences" of the bugs like in other Metro Vancouver libraries, she placed an order this week with InterLINK to use a trap on a trial basis.
And Rob O'Brennan, CEO of the Fraser Valley Regional Library system, which includes the Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam, said he hopes to have the $350 NightWatch devices in all of its bigger libraries if the test run proves successful at the four libraries.
FVRL libraries also haven't had bed bug sightings, he said, but managers have been briefed about the problem "and we have gone over the procedures with them so they know what to do if one shows up. We are doing all we can. We are doing due diligence."
Last fall, Metro Vancouver libraries were put on alert when bed bugs - most of them dead - were found in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster libraries. In Vancouver, there have been 13 bed bug sightings over two and a half years at six locations, and since Burnaby started to keep track in October, it has had one live sighting and two dead bugs.
The NightWatch trap uses carbon dioxide, pheromones and heat to lure the bed bugs.
Michael Burris, executive director of Public Library InterLINK, which serves 18 member library systems and circulates five million items a year, said he hopes to have the units delivered to the four libraries next week for the two-week pilot project. If the units are effective, InterLINK will email member libraries to place purchase orders on their behalf.
Bed bugs, Burris said, "are something that we need to be aware of because they're a fact of life and we have to be responsive in our libraries."
Meanwhile, Port Moody Public Library director Lynne Russell said she will be watching the trial closely. PMPL also hasn't had any bed bug incidents "but we are being vigilant. InterLINK libraries share information and we are always looking at best practices."
jwarren@tricitynews.com
