Infestation of bed bugs at the "Grande Bibliothèque"

Meeting Wednesday at the exit of the Library and National Archives of Quebec (BAnQ), some users said they were worried by the presence of bed bugs in the establishment.

This is the case of Julie Rose, who had to go there to fetch books. "I do not stay there. I go there to borrow the books and I leave. On the third floor, we see the closed sections and we do not really have indications at the entrance, so I think it's pretty average management, "she said.

"It can cause big problems. I know what it is, I have already lived that, so it worries me a little, "said Gilles Labelle.

Removing chairs

It was during a routine inspection at the end of June that the BAnQ administration noted the presence of these undesirable substances in certain upholstered armchairs. The affected furniture was treated at this time, and again a week later.

"But as a precaution, we closed the sections where we found in large numbers these chairs," said the director general of the Grande Bibliothèque, Danielle Chagnon. Every effort is made to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. "

The 300 seats were removed from circulation and crammed into spaces temporarily restricted to the general public. "We'll all take them off to store them. By Friday, there should not be any more, "she said.

The chairs will stay away for an indefinite time.

To evaluate

This is not the first time that bed bugs have infiltrated the Great Library. According to Ms. Chagnon, it takes between one to two years between each detection of these undesirable in the establishment.

But this time, more bugs were found. The administration must therefore assess whether it will be necessary to replace upholstered chairs with new furniture.

"Thirteen years ago, when we chose these chairs, the problem of bed bugs was perhaps not so obvious," she said. Are we going to bring back the chairs? We will ask the question and evaluate the costs. We will act so that users are reassured. "

The problem did not cause a drop in traffic. Tuesday, 8200 people have passed the doors of the Grande Bibliothèque, against an average that is usually between 7000 and 8000 visitors.