By Alicia Malone
A possible cockroach infestation at the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch is being taken seriously by staff even though only a handful of complaints have been received.
Linda Standing, circulation manager at the main library branch, says with approximately 5,000 people coming to the library each week, a handful of e-mails does not constitute many sightings.
“At the library directly, we have received one complaint,” says Standing, who is in charge of the main library building at Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue.
The library board has received six or seven more complaints from patrons who think they may have seen a cockroach in the building in addition to the one received at the library, says Standing.
However, even a few cockroaches could quickly become a severe problem says Stephane Zilleneuve, operator of Capital Pest Control, not connected with the library. He says cockroaches will lay 20 to 40 eggs at a time and have an incubation period of about 15 days before they hatch.
Cockroaches are medium-sized to large flattened insects with long antennae and a prominent pronotum. Some people confuse them with beetles, but adult cockroaches have membranous wings.
They are nocturnal and run rapidly when disturbed. Immature cockroaches look like adults, but are smaller and do not have wings.
Cockroaches hide in dark, warm areas, especially narrow spaces where surfaces touch them on both sides. Cockroaches tend to aggregate in corners and generally travel along the edges of walls or other surfaces.
Maintenance was notified after the initial complaint, which in turn notified the pest control company that according to Standing routinely inspects the building after an infestation of mice two years ago.
She says the underground parking below the building is a constant source of worry regarding infestations.
However, the cockroaches probably came in another way, says Zilleneuve.
“Mostly roaches are transported insects,” he says. They’re normally brought into a place in a box or bag someone has brought from somewhere else, he explains.
The problem, however, is not how they got there, but how to get rid of them.
Standing says the pest control company has put out traps in the area where the insect was spotted, but Zilleneuve says that is not an effective way to get rid of cockroaches.
The most effective way to eliminate the insects, he says, is by putting out a gel that the bugs are attracted to and eat that kills them. Within a month this would take care of any problem.
But the gel is also harmful to humans if ingested and therefore not a practical option for the library.
Standing also says they do not want to spray the books.
Cindy Upton, a regular patron of the main library, says she isn’t surprised that there are bugs in the building.
“It’s an old building, and a lot of times people eat where they shouldn’t,” she says.
However, Zilleneuve says food and garbage wouldn’t cause an infestation.
“Being clean or being dirty is not a plus or minus,” he says.
Garbage and food in the library would exacerbate an existing problem by providing food as well as hiding and breeding grounds.
Zilleneuve also suggested that if there is no other food around, cockroaches could live for “a couple of weeks with just paper and water.”
That means they could start eating the books if they can’t find another source of food, he says.
Still, Standing says they are not worried about the books as the sighting reported directly at the library was in an open space, not in the stacks. She also notes that staff would notice a large infestation.
Standing said people shouldn’t be worried about the bugs and Upton agrees.