Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-08-16

Librarians and patrons Of libraries
1or that matter, write from time to time
asking whether books convey infection
and II so in what way shall they be dis.
infected.
Ten years ago the opinion was gen.
eral that people were frequently infect-
ed In this way n many inventors were
at work devising machinery for the dis
infection of books. The problem had ito
~dlfficultte The bindings must not be
spoiled, the leather was delicate, tho
paste easily harmed. the paper would
not stand wetting.
Formaldehyde does not disinfect dry
surfaces. Sulphur fumes require mois-
ture for efficacy, but in the presence
OF moisture are converted into a des-
tructive gas. Watory solutions We're inn
possible and dipping in gasoline solu-
lions never commended itself. The need
seemed great. but the method OF meet
ing it seemed impossible of ordinary
practical application, at least in small
libraries.
However. in the last 10 years the sci
entific trend has been away from the
opinion that books convey %contagion.
1T has been proven over n over that
the great sources of c%ontagion are per-
sons who are sick with c%ontagion or
have recently been in contact with con-
tagion.
There is practically no evidence that
0OoA SNat AOAA' AA
wood and Dove said: There is prob
ably no material risk involved in tho
reissue of books recently read by COM
sumptives unless the books are OBJ
viously soiled. Even then the risks are
slight" IL this opinion is true in relation
to books used by consumptives the dam
ger is eve less as regards other forms
of contagioil.
Laubach reports the results of two
sets of experiments in the Bulletin OF
h Hopkins hospital. He sought for
live dlphtheria pacilli in $50 books re-
Gently HANDLED by cases of diphtherta.
No diphtheria bacilli were found. He
examined IS torn, dirty books which for
years had been passing through the
hands OF children in very ~ullsanitary
homes.
No ordinary disease producers We're
found on any of them. He then smeared
the pages OF certain books with diph-
liberia and typhoid germs. He found
that when the books We're kept in the
dark the bacteria remained alive for
months. In the light they died In les:
than IL days. In the bright sunllght
they died in a few hours.
The Journal of the American Medical
association, commenting on these inves.
LEGATIONS, says: 1T would be safest il
books handled by patients were thoro-
ughly disinfected. Direct sunlight APP
pears to be as efficient and eady an
agent here az elsewhere"
To my mind the proof is clear that
the danger of spreading of %contagion
through books is very slight. The only
| one of the three tests noted above which
indicated any danger was the labora-
tory test. where the pollution was far
greater Tin IN ever prevails in practice
/ suggest that a library have a shall
! low box with handle and with a re-
movable glass cover that circulating
books upon each return, and feaolns
room books at weekly intervals be
! placed in this box and exposed to direct
Sunlight for five hours. The glass cover
is only to be used when SCOT and dus1
make it necessary. The box Is to DC
tilted toward the sun. The books are u
be opened from time to time, the leaves
| to be spread apart.