Wichita Public Library - News Releases

All services except for the rental of meeting rooms will resume tomorrow. Two events scheduled to occur at the Central Library this week have been relocated to other facilities. The Teens Read Grand Prize Drawing Party will be held 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Evergreen Branch Library, 2601 N. Arkansas. Senior Wednesday: Viva La France! will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main. Meeting room rentals and onsite programs will resume Saturday, August 11.

"We know this has been a disruption to our customers," Director of Libraries Cynthia Berner Harris said. "We want to thank the community for its patience, understanding and support."

The Central Library was closed on Thursday after a customer late Wednesday reported the sighting of a pest in a chair on the first floor. The insect was later confirmed to be a bedbug. Since that time, the Library has worked with several pest control companies and also made use of a dog trained to detect bedbugs.

Bedbugs were discovered on chairs in two lounge seating areas in the library, Berner Harris said. As a precaution, library officials have removed all lounge seating from the building. Other precautions undertaken include treatment of all public seating and a limited number of materials from shelves closest to the lounge areas.

"We are confident in our building and our collections," Berner Harris said. "However, any customer who has a concern about a library item should secure it in a zippered plastic bag and return it in person to a library."

Visit this page, the Library's Facebook or Twitter for continued updates.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES

The Friends of the Wichita Public Library will resume acceptance of book donations on Monday, Aug. 13.

FAST FACTS AND FAQS

Bedbug Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/topics/bedbugs.htm

PREVIOUS RELEASES

Update on the Central Library Closure
At wichita.gov

Last update: 8/7/2012