Rare Book and Manuscript Library - 2011 IPM report
Introduction
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a program that attempts to minimize the use of
chemical pest controls by continuously monitoring the environment of an area to determine
likely causes of and solutions to infestations. Monitoring is done by placing insect traps
throughout an area, collecting them on a monthly basis and identifying the amount and types of
insects on each.
The initial goal of this process is to develop a baseline, or expected population, of insects.
The long term goal of the process is to monitor for unusual variations from the baseline, as
these are possible indicators of infestation. In the event of an infestation, several measures can
be taken before the use of chemicals, such as altering the environment and investigating
possible maintenance concerns. The monitoring process also informs these decisions by
helping to locate the source or entry point of the insects.
Since construction of the 6th Addition of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library was
completed in late 2010, the 23 Trapper® insect traps have jumped to 31 total, spread across
eight rooms. For our purposes, monitoring has been broken into three sections, one for each of
the additions (see floor plan at the end of the document). Each addition has two floors,
corresponding to the 7th and 8th levels of the stacks.
1. 4th Addition
8 traps: one at each corner of both the upper and lower rooms
Room characteristics that may be factors driving the level of insect activity:
Foot traffic: the RBML staff accesses the room throughout the day to page
needed materials and may bring pests into the collection area on their person
Increased %RH throughout the Summer/Fall seasons (April – October)
2. 5th Addition
6 traps: 4 on the lower floor and 2 on the upper floor.
Room characteristics that may be factors driving the level of insect activity:
Foot traffic: the RBML staff accesses the room throughout the day to page
needed materials and may bring pests into the collection area on their person
Increased %RH throughout the Summer/Fall seasons (April – October)
3. 6th Addition
17 traps: 9 on the lower floor, and 8 on the upper.
Room characteristics that may be factors driving the level of insect activity:
Foot traffic: the RBML staff accesses the room throughout the day to page
needed materials and may bring pests into the collection area on their person
Increased %RH throughout the Summer/Fall seasons (April – October)
Screened window at northwest corner of rooms
In October of 2010, a second space of the 6th Addition was added to the RBML, and
construction began on the original section of the 6th. The South (new) 6th addition is not in
reports prior to 2011. Monitoring in the North (old) 6th addition halted in October 2010 when
construction began but resumed in 2011.
Reporting
For the purposes of this report, collected data will be broken out into two categories,
Indicators and Damaging pests. Indicators include booklice and springtails. These two insects
indicate the possibility of high relative humidity, aging building materials, moisture, leaks, and
cracks in the structure of a building. It should be noted that in annual reports for 2008 and 2009,
a species of booklouse was being counted as a kind of aphid. It has been corrected for this
report. Damaging pests are those that feed directly on library building materials or collections
and include a variety of beetles, cockroaches, clothes moths, silverfish, and termites. As a final
note, for convenience “insects” and “pests” will be used to mean a broad range of insect-like
pests, including those that are not strictly insects, such as millipedes, mites, pill bugs, etc.
Also, since monitoring of these spaces is done by the Preservation graduate assistant, the
person doing the identification will change on an almost yearly basis. This will have an effect on
the data depending on the person’s acuity and attention to detail, particularly concerning very
small insects.
4th Addition (8 traps)
Indicators
While the number of springtails and booklice both saw monthly highs in summer 2011,
the yearly populations are still very small in relation to most library spaces. And the springtail
increase in particular is negligible, rising by a mere 3 from last year’s 34. From the 8 traps in the
4th addition, a total of 37 springtails and 108 booklice were collected over the course of the 2011
year.
Damaging Pests
In 2011, 5 potentially damaging pests were caught in the 4th addition: 1 cigarette beetle, I
carpet beetle, 1 oriental cockroach, 1 silverfish, and 1 drugstore beetle. Though it is in total an
increase, with such a small number and not more than one of each, it is unlikely that damaging
pests present a threat to the collection.
Recommended Actions
Given the very small number of indicators and damaging pests, no remedial actions are
recommended at this time.
5th Addition (6 traps)
Indicators
In the 5th addition, the numbers of springtails and booklice caught in 2011 was also
relatively low. Springtail population in 2011 broke from previous years’ consistency, with 18
caught this year. Booklice increased from 70 in 2010 to 53 in 2011, due in large part to the late
summer swell.
Damaging Pests
There was 1 potentially damaging pests found in the 5th addition in 2011, an American
cockroach. This is consistent with the last two years, in which a single pest was found.
Recommended Actions
Given the very small number of indicators and damaging pests, no remedial actions are
recommended at this time.
6th Addition (17 traps)
Indicators
For both indicator species, there was a significant population decrease in 2011. In the
case of booklice, this was a drop from 48 to 18. Again worth noting is that fall of 2010 through
the early months of 2011 saw monitoring activities halted due to construction. This means that
comparing year-end totals would not be entirely accurate; however the evidence we do have
suggests that the 6th addition, like the others, has an even smaller population of indicators for
which there was no original cause for concern.
Damaging Pests
4 potentially damaging insects were caught in the 6th addition in 2011, no part of which
suggests anything more than blundering. There were 2 American cockroaches, 1 drugstore
beetle, and 1 silverfish. Again, this is a very low number of pests, and it is extremely unlikely
that they indicate an infestation of any sort.
Recommended Actions
Given the very small number of indicators and damaging pests, no remedial actions are
recommended at this time.