DISEASE IN BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 407, 16 January 1909, Page 6

DISEASE IN BOOKS.

IS FUMIGATION ADVISABLE?

A REPORT BY THE CITY LIBRARIAN. WHAT IS DONE IN AMERICA. Tho odorous, thumb-grimod' library book is an object of deep 'suspicion to many people, who see noxious bacteria swarming large in every aspect of uncleanliness. When it is remembered that some library books are breathed upon by .sick patients, and laid about in rcoms where, contagious diseases reign, thore seoms to be some reason for the suspicion. The City Librarian (Mr. H. .Baillio) has just reported to'the City Council on the possibility of diseases being spread by library books.: The subject has been studied extensively in the United States, and during .his-recent visit to that country Mr. Baillio made himself acquainted with the results of American investigation. It seems to be agreed, for the most part, that the germs which And a home in dirty books, are usually quite harmless, and that a proper fumigation of books, which can be relied on' 'to destroy all. the internal germs', is very difficult to effect. The most that can be done .in libraries; therefore,. is to fumigate with special care, andun the worst cases to destroy all books that are known to have come from houses .harbouring a contagious' disease.* ' ; A SPHERE FOR HEALTH OFFICIALS. In America' the : Health Department's i officials are instructed, in many cases, to report to libraries, houses which they_ find, so infected, and even themselves to disinfect or turn away, library books which .may, have been exposed to contagion, giving notice of such action to the library. . ; Locally, , the matter' affects; not only the public libraries, but private, Sunday School, - and other, collections of books which are lent out. ;For this reason the Health. Department's .inspectors might be considered the most,.suitable persons, for dealing with the. peril. At the Newtown Public.; Library a proper fumigating plant has been installed, and is now ready.'for use. '■ Mr< Baillie's report is as follows: — ;

. .LIBRARIAN'S REPORT, To the Chairman, Library Committee. . Sir, —In accordance' with your instructions, ; I herewith have the honour to present a report"on the subject of book : disinfection, i During nr? visit to the United States' I made. inquiries' on this subject. In every, case I. found that there' was a complete working arrangement., with the Health Depart-' ment of the cities, under! which the officers of the Department gave tbi. library -. officials prompt notice of all cases of infectious diseases, and in most oases the Department undertook the ■ duty of disinfecting or destroying the books according to. the seriousness of the disease. A few of the libraries bad small formalin-disinfecting charmers. ■ ' i i Destruction Is Safest. " Portland, Oregon, experienced an infection scare. during 1907; the health officer ordered tho library to bo closed, and' for two days .the' building and books were thoroughly fumigated with formaldehyde .' gas. The 7500 .volumes that were in circulation at,the,time were fumigated nightly on .their ; return to tho library. The trustees, feeling that -tho. closing of the: library , and. the fumigating of the entire building with formaldehyde vapour might,,have been unnecessary,.. and, wishing to be. informed for.j future occasions, a letter was sent to many, librarians-, and some bacteriologists asking fivo questions, the "most .important of which, were:—l. When books were known to.have been in; houses where cases existed of scarlet, fever,, measles,, diphtheria, -smallpox,, tuberculosis, ,or, epidemic cerebro meningitis,; must thejr be/destroyed,, or can they be,perfectly sterilised?,.- 2.,,Wiirformaldehyde in a closed room' sterilise books stacked, on, shelves? Many./, replies'ere received, the conclusion drawn' therefrom' being that' it is' better, to destroy:books where they have been : exposed to contagious diseases, and.that vapours from formaldehyde will not sterilise bboks stacked on shelves. • ■ . .' ' ■ Germs Mostly.Harmless. ■ At a meeting 6f the New York Library 'Association,' held on October 9, 1502,' Dr. Andrew F. Currier, president of the Board of Trustees of the Mount Vernon, New York, Public Library, gave an address on

"The sterilisation of . books ,by vapour of formalin.". He stated that "book disinfec-tion-is a part'of the' subject of; preventive medicine, which,is the-most important branch of.'scientific • and human knowledge," and "that as a result of careful investigation it appears that books may be the medium by. which the germs of a disease may' be transmitted. It is not uncommon for books to be used in the sickroom by those who are unaware of the possibility that such germs beromo. attached to them. Such carelessness and ■ thoughtlessness are too frequent to excite, any feeling- of surpriso. Very often the books arp ' obtained from a circulating library, and when returned to the library it is quite possible for them to be quickly transferred to other individuals, and : thus to carry the germs of disease, with them. The subject, therefore, becomes one of practical , im-. portance, and it -. was the consideration ,of theso facts that induced me to investigate with the -view of finding, if possible, a remedy for the evil. Germs, it is evident, may-adhere more or less firmly to different parts of books because of their peculiarities, and because they-have been found free in the atmosphere: ■ It may also be assumed that they will bo more abundant on ' the covers and the edges than within the interior of books. In the investigations which were made they were actually found in abundance in the books which were \ used for experimentation,'these books having been circulated by the Mount Vernon Public' Library. It should be added, however, that of those thus found all were shown by cultivation to be of harmless variety," ■ " ,

The experiments. that Dr, Currier carried out were with books that has been infected for that purpose, and a fumigation with formalin proved quite efficient, The books were placed in'the fumigating chamber, standing on their, edges | this allowed the yap,our tq penetrate, between the leaves, At library .where these experiments were tried the books are regularly fumigated, as they are returned by . borrowers, an average of 200 books per day being put through at a.cost of about £8 per* year. I did , not hear,'of any other, library ivhere this is . being' dono. No Oonnection Between Dirt and Bacteria. Circulating library books,"as far ps,handling is ccnoerned, may be placed in the samo plaßs as papef money,' Tlie following extracts trem the.''f3ciantifi<i American'' of October 10, 1908, is of interest ai> tha pres6H| time. "Paper money is popularly "supposed $o J)e a carrier of infectious diseases, No doubt jnlprebeb find a resting plaeo, on many of the' hilifj now in' circulation, but investigations; whioh liavo been conducted at the' Research Laboratory of tho New York Board of Health indicate that although paper money Is by. no means free from bacteria, it is novortholess not quite so proliflo a breeding ground as may bo supposed, On the clean bank bills an average of 2350 baotoria were discovorod | on tho soiled tho avorago was 73,000. This investigation was mado somo years ago; and its results liavo now been checked by Warren W. Hiiditch, of the Sheffield Laboratory of Bacteriology and, Research at Yalo. Tho dirtiest bills which banks and railways could place at his disposal showed an averago of only-142,000 for each bill. Tho lowest was 14,000, the highest 586,000. Curiously enough, ;• tho eloanest-looking note was charged with'4os,ooo bacteria, and tho dirtiest with 38,000, which seems . to prove that there is no necessary connection between dirt and bacteria. Mr. Hiiditch finds that guinea pigs inoculated with these bacteria contracted no, disease, which would mean that | money bacteria are not necessarily virulent." The ■ following are some of the replies received by tho Portland Library Trustees:—, "Mr. C. R. Dudley, librarian of the Public Library, Denver. In an experience of twenty' years, 1 bavo novor known oontagious disdasot.

to be transmitted through the medium of a library book.. All books known to liavo been m houses where _ smallpox existed, and ill oases or other diseases where the inspector thinks it advisable, are burned by the Health Department' at our order. Neither formaldehyde nor "any other sterilising agent will affect more than the covers of the books stacked on the shelves." l' ' A Limited Danger. "Mr. r. It. Ilild, librarian, Chicago Public Library. Books from bouses where there are malignant diseases, such as smallpox, ar .° destroyed by the Health Department without being returned to the Library. ,ln an excitement over the subject some time j , S°i we requested a thorough investigation by the Health Department, and received 'a report, a- copy of which we enclose. The report stated "That the object of the examination being to determine whether the books or the library are infected by disease-produc-ing organisms, and require to be disinfected, tile books selected were those that were most worn and most solid.' And the report shows that no disease-producing bacteria were round in these volumes; only the ordinary •. bacteria usually found on human skin and upon everything handled by human hands. It e stremely improbable that disease germs should lodge between the leaves of books and retain their virility for ariy length of. time under the ordinary circumstances of use of public library books. The practical danger arises from such books in rooms where, any of the contagious diseases existed; and, in order •to obviate this danger, the Health Department furnishes the library each day with the name of every/reported- case of a contagious disease, so that the library books in such cases may be destroyed, not disinfected, ■n iv Brown; Librarian of the Public Library, Buffalo.— I The Buffalo Public .Library has been open for ten years- with a stafr running from sixty, to , eighty people. Last year we circulated 1,200,000 books, and we have not yet had a single case of con-' tagious disease. Of course, every" book must be. handled in the library by the staff. We think this fact ; is well ,w6rth noting in connection with the fear of the spread of contagious .diseases through library books. Our experience is not at all unique. It is also worth noting here that the Buffalo Public. Library. issues sets of 'supplementary reading books' to the public schools. Last year .books were circulated from schools. ' The following is a copy of a notice sent out bv the Brooklyn Public Library:—"Wo have been notified by the Board of. Health that there is a ; case of contagious 'disease at your house. If you have in your possession any books belonging to tho library, please send us the titles ana dates on which they were, tjilceti from , the library, and keep tho books , until' after the house has been fumigated. No fine'will-be charged for th - detention of .books beyond the allotted time,-' provided the. library, is notified .as .requested above."

: i The Health Department, of . Washington, D.C., not only notifies the cases of infectious diseases, but also informs the library authorities of any library / books that , may have been found on thq premises, the'book-card is then found and. tagged with a yellow slip. Local Precautions. Regarding precautions in our libraries, the by-laws prohibit the use of books by those suffering from , infectious diseases. As a further precaution, thi Health Department might_ be asked to' co-operate by adding instructions re circulating books to the usual, notice left at prmises where there arc cases' of contagious, disease. ' A book disinfecting chamber'is now available in' the Newtown Branch Library/ and it should be used in all cases ,of books coming from' 'infected premises.' 1 do not. consider that it' is. necessary to fumigate books each' day as has' been suggested;—!ours' respectfully, Herbert Baillie, Librarian. '