Staphylococcus (staph) is a bacteria that NORMALLY lives HARMLESSLY on skin, especially around nose, mouth, genitals.

Problems arise (infection) when there is a break (puncture, abrasion, wound) in the protective layer of the skin .

Thus, advice to wash wounds as soon as possible, and to wash hands.

To prevent germs on the skin surface, from being introduced into the body and causing an infection, is why we prep skin with an antiseptic (alcohol, chlorhexidine, betadine) prior to drawing blood, giving an injection, or performing invasive/surgical procedures.

Bugs love paper, books, cardboard boxes, etc. I wouldn't worry so much about library books. I would think things are moved around enough, checked out, etc. I would also think, knowing how bugs love paper, that a library might have some type pest contol. Now an antique store is another story! I have found silverfish in old books, plus they are bad for mold. I love and have old books, but I've very careful and look them over before purchasing.

One more reason I prefer ebooks.

But back when I was checking out more actual books from the public library - and also when bringing home second hand books, I would wipe them down with 70% isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel - or alcohol wipes.

It's not staph I get concerned about, as much as flu and colds - not to mention food smears.

If I remember, I stick used books in the micro for 30 seconds. I also got rid of an aphid infestation in a favourite coir basket liner doing the same thing.

Please do not microwave books, especially library books. The latter often have metal tags in them, which can lead to fires.

And yet in the HISTORY of Libraries disease and pestilence being spread by the is jut not a thing. People keep your heads!!

It’s a good idea to cover open cuts, wounds and any similar scrape that breaks the skin.

You can put a layer of antibiotic ointment and then cover it with a small or appropriately sized bandage. I would especially be mindful of doing something like this when you go out into the world, “out there.”

Ever see those cute little booklice? They look nearly invisible as they blend with the page. Look for them and used bookstores. I think they eat the glue in the binding. But maybe a cookie crumb would work.

While traditional books are all charming and book-y, I have come to prefer ebooks for portability, syncing through the cloud among devices, and hands-free, my personal favorite thing. I often eat while reading and I just wipe it off my screen, unlike the dried bits of mystery meal that cling to pages in a library book. And a pet peeve: those readers before me who think they have the right to strike out a word and insert one they think is better.

Booklice eat mold. If a book is mildewed (easy to tell from the smell), put it in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer. That will kill any bugs. But getting rid of the mold itself, unless it's just on the binding, is very difficult and not usually worth the effort.

A year or so ago I got Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute from my local library. [BTW, it's an utterly wonderful book despite its title.] It was a paperback printed in 1963, the year I graduated from high school. It still had the pocket thing in the front and date stamps when it was borrowed. The paper was going back to nature. It was very soft and almost furry. It was an effort to turn the page because the pages kinda clung together. It was out of print, but I found a website for such books and managed to download an e-version.

I would imagine wearing disposible gloves would solve any potential issue

Or, you could just wash your hands. I've worked with books, old, used, very rare, dirty, musty, falling apart with leather rot, etc. for 40 years. The chances of 'catching' something from a book are vanishingly rare. Unless of course it's green: https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/arsenic-and-old-books

I think i’ll just take ny chances and live dangerously. Our library quarantines books between users now, because of covid

True, Mdln, but that's only works if you know you have broken skin and clean it asap. I don't work outside the home but do a lot of stuff outdoors and in. Many times the next day I'll notice where I scratched myself and never knew it. Or I did know it and totally forgot about it.

OTOH, staph can just show up unexpectedly without a break in the skin. When DGS was about 8 months old I was changing his diaper and on his groin was a big purple/red bump with a tiny yellow head, and when I touched it he winced in pain. I wasn't familiar with staph but I demanded my son and DIL take him to Urgent Care when they got home from work. They didn't want to and I convinced them to do it. MRSA. There was no wound on the baby. Someone infected touched him, or he touched an unknown object that had MRSA on it & it got into his bloodstream somehow.

MRSA/Staph generally shows up in the nose (Me!), armpits, groin or buttocks. As much as I blow my nose I'm sure I had "harmless" staph until I probably cleaned too hard with a kleenex and fingernails under it, and broke the skin.

I remember DS and DIL wiping every surface in that house clean. What a chore!

And I like to read in bed - happy thoughts!

Our local library had a PSA about microwaving library books. It's pretty dangerous.

Do those tags get removed when books are purged from the library? I know I've found library books on the shelves of local thrift stores too - and they often were not marked as discarded.

Arcy, I'm not worried about Pestilence. Read the link below, you can skip to the test and results.

Bacteria on paper There is no way I believe anyone has tested every book in all the libraries to see if someone contracted MRSA from one of their books! It's just not done!

I used to be a Librarian's asst in all of high school, lived in the Tulsa County Library every weekend, and kept going to libraries until I decided I don't want to be rushed in reading a book, especially if it's a new bestseller that everyone wants. I love the paper, and it's so easy to go back and reread something.

Oly, that's great the library quarantines books. Never knew they did that and until now didn't know Covid could be on a book. Or staph. lol

@Oakley you may not know it, but @MDLN is a medical professional.

Interesting about these infections. My mom was a carrier of MRSA, but never had an infection with it. We found out when she was admitted to the hospital and they tested her.

To me, this comes under the heading of things that may be possible but are highly unlikely. Which does not diminish the danger if it has in fact happened to you. Going by my lifetime of library use without incident, and seeing my mother's lifetime of use without incident, my librarian family members etc etc.... this is not something I see going on my list of worries.

I should be dead by now.

Everything old is new again.

“'The great book scare”'created a panic that you could catch an infection just by lending from the library",

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-great-book-scare-people-worried-contaminated-books-could-spread-disease-180972967/

Library books are something I am certainly not ever going to get germ-phobic over. Or even purchasing used books at a store somewhere.

Unless you are renting out a best seller from the library (and those are far and few between that I really want to read to begin with), you aren't going to get a disease from your library book, unless you are prone to licking the pages.... In which case, that's a different problem. Specific books don't get checked out all that often, unless they are bestsellers! And even if it is a bestseller, the chances are beyond rare.

I have decided NOT to buy some used books because they just smelled very moldy, or because there were obviously amazing repasts eaten over those books - basically, the "grody" factor. But I don't worry about staph infections from books!

While I understand and agree with the concerns, I think some people can get a bit overblown after the prevalence of the C-word these past two years.

I'm not being paranoid or anything, if I had a library close to me I wouldn't hesitate to check out a book. The main reason I did this topic is because I have staph and was getting ready to give DS a book I just read and it dawned on me it has my germs all over it, so I googled to see how long staph lives on paper and inside books. Until now I never thought of getting bad germs from books & I don't ever want to go through this again. Week 4. Ugh.

DS very well could have caught staph if I gave him the book and he started reading it immediately.