It might be something else causing that itch.
Far be it from me to gross you out over your Wheaties. But there may be bedbugs in your library books.
Denver Public Library has banned one of its most avid users for spreading the tiny insects in volumes of obscure literature that he borrows each week.
Three times since Sept. 3, the city has quarantined and fumigated four areas of its main branch. Thirty-one books have been destroyed in efforts to contain the infestation of bugs and their larvae and droppings.
The problem threatens books not only in Denver's system, but those in libraries throughout Colorado.
"It's everybody's collections and everybody's homes at risk," says Tom Scott, manager of security and safety.
"This is one hot mess," adds library spokeswoman Celeste Jackson. "Our biggest concern is that people understand how seriously we're taking this. We're hopeful that we've contained it. But this guy isn't exactly our ideal customer."
That customer is Roger Goffeney, 69, who happens to have made it his life's mission to preserve books. He's a zealous participant in the Gutenberg Project, a worldwide effort to archive printed books online.
Goffeney borrows tomes of classic literature from the library — as well as from libraries at universities and in other counties using Denver's system as an intermediary. Then he "reviews" the books — not actually reading them but comparing hard copies to online versions to ensure that his fellow Gutenberg volunteers have scanned them completely.
