Restorers are removing about 100.000 hand-bound books from the shelves of the medieval Benedictine abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, in an effort to save them from a bug infestation. Workers are taking the books off the shelves and placing them in crates, which is the beginning of a disinfection process aimed at killing drugstore beetles, also known as bread beetles, which are often found among dry foodstuffs such as grains, flour, and spices. But they are also attracted to starch-based adhesives found in old books.
“This is an advanced insect infestation that was discovered in several parts of the library, so the entire collection of 400.000 books has been classified as infected and must be treated at the same time,” said Zsofia Edit Hajdu, the lead restorer on the project. “We have never before encountered such a level of infestation.”
The bug infestation was first discovered during routine library cleaning. Employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves and then saw that holes had been drilled in some books. After opening the books, holes gnawed through by the beetles could be seen on the pages.
To kill the bugs, the crates with books are placed in tall, hermetically sealed plastic bags from which all oxygen is removed. After six weeks in an environment of pure nitrogen, all the bugs should be destroyed.
Before being returned to the shelves, each book will be individually inspected and cleaned. Each book damaged by pests will be set aside for later restoration work. The abbey in Pannonhalma was founded in the year 996. Located in the northwest of the country, the abbey was one of the most prominent religious and cultural sites in Hungary and all of Central Europe, and it holds the country’s oldest book collection as well as many of the earliest and most important written records.
Although the oldest and rarest prints and books are kept separately and are not infected, Ilona Asvanyi, the library director, said that any damage to the collection is a blow to the cultural, historical, and religious heritage.
The abbey, which hopes to reopen the library at the beginning of next year, believes that the effects of climate change played a role in triggering the bug infestation, as average temperatures are rising rapidly in Hungary.
“Higher temperatures are favorable for insect life. Until now, we have mostly dealt with mold damage in both storage areas and open collections. But now I think that due to global warming, more and more insects will start appearing,” said one restorer.
