To worry about the germs that might come with a library book?

[ASnowballsChance]

I think I suffer from health anxiety and now it's spreading to worrying about things that have never crossed my mind until now.....

We are big readers and to keep up with the amount DC read we regularly borrow from the library but now I'm freaking out about all the germs and creepy crawlies (bed bugs mainly) that we might be bringing into our home.

AIBU to never want to borrow a library book again?!

I am a librarian. Please don't put library books in the oven OR in the freezer. You will damage the book and the RFID tag. Please don't microwave them either - that's even worse.
Both my partner and I are librarians and we both enjoy good health, despite handling many books a day. If you are concerned about catching things from library books (I assure you I am not concerned about this at all) then I suggest you buy an e-reader and enjoy the many e-books you can borrow from most public libraries.

Bizarre

I don’t have health anxiety but personally I never take out library books for this very reason!

Umm, you do. "Germs" don't exist; there are bacteria everywhere; there are viruses everywhere; there are insects everywhere; we're all only about 6 feet away from a rat; there are cockroaches everywhere.

We all survive.

Unless you're immuno-compromised, you are not going to catch anything from a library book. Apart from knowledge, which you clearly need!

I’m sure there are plenty of germs on them. However I’ve never heard of anyone contracting anything from a library book. I don’t think you need to worry.

As for the bed bugs, every house is full of them anyway, so there’s no point worrying about them. They’re just there.

"Germs" are everywhere. You cannot live in a sterile bubble. Worrying about bugs on a library book indicates your anxiety is way out of control and i'd be focusing on tackling that rather than trying to anti-bac the shit out of everything. .

I don't think about the germs too much - it's that obligatory little ball of dried snot you get, glueing the pages together. Bleurgh!

Disclaimer - I still borrow loads of library books. Libraries are fab!

You can't worry about that. It's a slippery slope.
I say that as someone who has OCD (diagnosed) and has had the same worry and had to force herself to use libraries.

Get help. Your children deserve to live normal lives unimpeded by your issues.

To the poster who thinks bedbugs are extinct they pose a massive growing problem in America and increasingly in the UK, they’re also very difficult to eradicate.

OP there’s loads of advice about how not to import bedbugs into your home, perhaps look that up, I have after a friend picked them up after a hotel stay…I don’t recall books being a major issue.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/19/bedbugs-heatwave-sparks-plage-pest-infestation

I know what you mean about library books, they can seem a bit icky, I wipe down the covers with anti bac, and they’re always filthy but I don’t worry about the paper…

Also, I agree about seeing someone about your anxiety. Get it now before it gets any worse.
You'll learn that no steps you take will be enough and you'll constantly be doing something to rectify what you've just done.
Acknowledge the worry, and tell yourself its anxiety/OCD and move on to doing something else to keep you busy.

Do you think anyone has ever got ill from a library book?

YABU but I think you already know that. In a way this specific example doesn't matter as your kids will be fine without library books anyway. I would be more worried about how it impacts more serious things in your life and your kids lives. Do you use public transport? Do you use toilets when out somewhere? Do you eat when out somewhere?

I don’t have health anxiety but personally I never take out library books for this very reason!

You may not have been diagnosed as having health anxiety, but I would suggest that this is not ‘normal’ and therefore you may have some sort of anxiety issue.

what about when you use the cash point or put your PIN in when you buy anything? These carry more bacteria than a lavatory bowl.

I don’t have health anxiety but personally I never take out library books for this very reason

You do have health anxiety and should see your GP.

I’m also one of those who won’t eat cakes made by people at work! It’s not like I have super high standards of cleanliness but some things just put me off.*

I think it’s such a shame when anxiety ruins normal, everyday pleasures for people.

I use my knuckle or car key to put my pin number in on a cash machine. Yes, I'm officially crazy.

I do use toilets when out but only ever touch flushes/doors/locks/handles with toilet paper, never my hand. I also eat out but worry about food poisoning quite a lot.

Wierd-we borrow weekly as DC epic readers but never even thought about it!!..

I don't think I've got anxiety over it, but I can't stand the thought of library/second-hand books - people pick their noses and scratch their bums, or deal with dog slobber and are then handling the books. I don't think I'll catch anything, but the thought grosses me out.
I am not anxious out and about (though we don't sit on toilet seat and I open the door with my elbow) - but as soon as we get home it feels like our clean sanctuary - hands washed immediately, and

I'm the same as you but hadn't considered library books coz I have a kindle lol, but I always have to wash my hands after post is put through the door - I wouldn't eat children's cakes either - my son gave us all worms when he was little and having to take a tablet for it when I have a major medication phobia was horrific ... thing is, wherever you go and whatever you touch has the same potential so just be sensible and wash hands (not too obsessively) whenever you feel it necessary (after shopping etc) but we also do need germs to be able to fight them - I do sympathise though because it's bloody exhausting

Oh, and I won't eat cakes at fetes either. I've seen too much dodgy hygiene practices. This is hardly a hardship - we make plenty of own cakes at home.

I'm just wondering how I've survived so long, what with library books, raking around the second-hand clothes in charity shops, feeding and adopting manky stray cats; buying stuff from flea markets, using communal changing rooms, eating cake at every opportunity* no matter who made it, picking up after dogs etc

*Don't judge me. My relationship with cake is complicated.

Concerning that a fair few examples of other things on here that I do to limit my contact with germs. I actually have never heard of health anxiety but have noticed my anxiety has got worse over the last few years since having DC, and it is mainly to do with germs.

I think of germs day to day and the logical part of my brain knows I won't die / get seriously ill if germs enter my body but the "thought" of them in or on my body gives me anxiety.

I too don't buy second hand books or read library books for the same reason as the OP. Other things I do:

• not touching the button on a train door
• don't use hand rails on stairs in stations
• clothes washed after sitting anywhere in public eg a pub, train seat, even if jeans were fresh on that morning
• use tapless card payments wherever I can, PIN number use would be followed by anti-bac gel (or done by my knuckle)
• don't like DC putting their hands near my face/arms if they've been to school. I know this is weird now I'm writing it down but I can't get passed that they're hands are not clean. I will hold hands but I'd wash my hands or ask them to wash their's when we're home.
• no shoes anywhere in the house other than the shoe kallax thing they live in.
• won't put bags on tables. First thing you do when you're out in a pub, toilet etc is put you're bag on the floor
• constantly cleaning my house (handles, worktops etc)

Shit, just writing that out I can see I have a problem

With all the examples you've given, I think it's fair to say you are more than averagely anxious, OP. (And so are some others posting.)

At least you have recognised that it seems to be worsening. Have you sought help?

Whilst I know that logic doesn't really help, I am one of the many who survived myriad library books in my youth (I used to use my family's library cards to circumvent the max four books limit ).

In other news, many libraries now loan ebooks so you can borrow books without touching! (You need an ereader that can take the EPUB format, though some books are available as PDF. As far as I know, kindles can't do EPUB but can do PDF.)