Peachtree Corners library reopens

Branch was shut for a week for bedbug extermination.

The Peachtree Corners branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library reopened Tuesday after closing for a week for bedbug extermination.

Staffers found bedbugs Jan. 17 in a small group of armchairs near the library’s front entrance, said Duffie Dixon, library system spokeswoman. The chairs were removed and the library closed while Gwinnett County, which owns the building, brought in a pest control company to spray, Dixon said.

“The minute we found them, we took immediate steps,” she said.

The library stopped all book transfers and locked down the book drops, Dixon said. Signs directed people to use other library branches. No one will be fined for late returns to the Peachtree Corners branch during the week it was closed, Dixon said.

The library’s facilities director asked the director of the Athens-clarke County Library, where bedbugs were found last fall, for advice. As a result, the Gwinnett library system hired Pestforce. The company visually inspected the books on the shelves and brought a pair of dogs that sniff out bedbugs. No additional bedbugs were found anywhere in the 14,000-square-foot building, Dixon said.

Library employees checked themselves for bedbugs and were told to dry their clothes at a high temperature, a standard precaution. They all worked at other branches for a week. The library system implemented a procedure for the other 14 branches to visually inspect all incoming books.

“Nobody had it or brought it anywhere,” Dixon said. “Not one other branch or person found anything.”

The Gwinnett library system paid $3,000 from its contingency fund to Pestforce. Gwinnett County representatives did not respond Wednesday when asked how much the county spent on extermination at the library.

Almost 20 people sat scattered throughout the library Wednesday during the noon hour, when many tend to come for passport services, often from outside Gwinnett.

“It’s the only one that’s free or available,” said Sadie Edles, 20, of Alpharetta. “You have to make appointments everywhere else.”

Lowouratou Diallo came all the way from Cumming for passport photos. While she waited, she introduced her 18-month-old daughter to the game of chess.

A woman who frequents the library walked through the door. Library associate Laurie Esser greeted her.

“We’re glad to see you too,” Esser said. “We’re so happy to be back.”

JASON GETZ/JASON.GETZ@AJC.COM Krista Ferrell (left), 21, and Sadie Edles, 20, both of Alpharetta, wait to get passport photos Wednesday at the Peachtree Corners library, which reopened Tuesday after bedbug treatment.