Bedbugs temporarily shut Huntington library
After the discovery of bedbugs forced the closure of the main branch of the Huntington Public Library Friday morning, a steady stream of people walked up through the afternoon, yanked on the locked doors and looked confused.
And then, they saw the notice taped on the door.
"Bedbugs? Ugh," said Jody Abraham, who carried her daughter Layna, 2, in one hand and a copy of People magazine she was returning in the other.
The bugs were found during a routine inspection by the library's contracted exterminating company, library director Debra Engelhardt said.
"We were learning about the bedbugs after what Central Islip [library] suffered through," she said. That library temporarily closed last month because of bedbugs.
The Huntington library had representatives from the pest control company look for bedbugs, Engelhardt said. On Friday morning they found them in the crevices of several chair cushions. Library spokeswoman Katherine Heaviside said three or four bugs were found in an area away from books.
The Main Street building will be fumigated Saturday and reopen Tuesday, Engelhardt said, adding the treatment is "100 percent effective."
In the meantime, library patrons can use the Huntington Station branch, she said. Engelhardt said some canceled library activities will be rescheduled. Library materials do not have to be returned before Tuesday.
The news came as a surprise to the patrons who showed up to return books or take out movies for the weekend. For the most part, they took the closure in stride - believing that a little inconvenience was better than checking out bedbugs.
"I guess they didn't want kids to get it in their clothes and be responsible for it," said Mary Ellen Finnegan, who'd come to research Huntington's history.
"I think it's the right thing to do. Not only the kids, but the seniors. A lot of seniors come here to read the newspapers," she said.
On Oct. 29, bedbugs temporarily closed the children's section of the Central Islip Public Library. It's now open to the public.
'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.
'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.
