Michigan Library Temporarily Closes Due to Insect Encounter

A suburban Detroit library closed on Monday morning after returning DVDs revealed surprising stowaways. Insects were discovered inside a DVD case in a return bin.

The Royal Oak Public Library announced the closure on social media. The library was shut on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning following the incident. The bugs were found in a DVD returned after closing on Friday and before reopening on Saturday. Therefore, previous items were not affected. The book drops were promptly locked, and all items were bagged and secured in the garage.

"For health and safety reasons, we will remain closed for the time being. Sorry for the inconvenience.Update: In response to comments, we do not know what bugs were in the item that was returned; we are waiting for our pest control company to determine that. The bugs were discovered in a DVD case when it was opened and the bugs came out. It appeared to be multiple species of bugs, but we aren't sure. The DVD was returned sometime after we closed on Friday and before we opened on Saturday, so nothing prior to that would have been affected. The book drops were immediately locked and all items that were in those book drops were bagged up and isolated in our garage," the post said.

A follow-up message on Monday confirmed that a pest control company had inspected the location. It reported that the library received clearance to resume operations at 1 p.m. The company identified the insects inside the DVD case as cockroaches.

"We conduct monthly pest inspections," the library assured in its post. "You should feel confident visiting the library after this incident."