Contagion

As public libraries reopen under pandemic conditions, they will have to ensure that the disease is not spread through circulated library materials.

In the United States, in the first phase of a project to disseminate and develop science-based information about how materials can be handled to mitigate exposure to staff and visitors, scientists have found that the virus is not detectable on five common library materials after three days.

The findings are part of the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums (REALM) Project designed to generate scientific information to support the handling of core museum, library, and archival materials as these institutions begin to resume operations and reopen to the public. The first phase of the research is focusing on commonly found and frequently handled materials.

Over the past few weeks, scientists tested the virus on a variety of surfaces, in environments with standard temperature and relative humidity conditions typically found in air-conditioned office space. Materials tested in phase one included the cover of hardcover books (buckram cloth), the cover of softback books, plain paper pages inside a closed book, mylar protective book cover jackets, and plastic DVD cases. Battelle tests found the virus undetectable after one day on the covers of hardback and softback books as well as the DVD case. The virus was undetectable on the paper inside of a book and mylar book jackets after three days.

https://www.imls.gov/news/research-shows-virus-undetectable-five-highly-circulated-library-materials-after-three-days?fbclid=IwAR10rpre7UXsGgcnetA84IO2WGycQ1ITV5YbQcY7vkF1OBUGPFCwmpTANlo