Beetles vs. Books: A Library’s High-Stakes Battle for History

Tucked away in the hills of Hungary lies the Pannonhalma Archabbey, a place teeming with history and old books—lots of old books. But right now, it’s not just history that’s at risk; a swarm of unwanted guests, the drugstore beetle, has turned this literary sanctuary into a battleground. While you might think beetles belong in the wild, these little critters are finding a cozy home among the pages of precious tomes, snacking on the very glue that holds centuries of knowledge together. Talk about a literary crisis!

Restoration workers are rising to the occasion, putting their gloves on and hauling out about 100,000 books to prevent a complete historical meltdown. They’re going for a drastic six-week treatment plan where these books will get sealed in plastic sacks, with the hopes that eliminating oxygen will send those beetles packing. Imagine trying to save your favorite novel but facing a miniature apocalypse of creepy-crawlies instead! It’s a story that makes you wonder if bookworms ought to stick to reading rather than eating.

And while this beetle’s appetite for literature is comical in a twisted sort of way, it does bring up serious questions about how climate change could be affecting not just the insects but also our treasured collections. As if protecting our history wasn’t hard enough, now we have to wrestle with warming temperatures giving pests a boost. So, what would you do if you were in charge of saving your city’s historic sites from such weirdness?

Let’s hope the team at the abbey manages to kick those bugs out before they claim more than just a few spines! With the fate of these books hanging in the balance, history is definitely under threat—of both time and tiny beetles. Who knew preservation could be such a hassle?

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