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?!

The stupid thing is that I've been using the library since childhood and only now in my 30s I've suddenly thought of this to worry about.

I wouldn't see you face expression after I bought my most beloved writer book from Antique shop, dated from 1948!😁

I'm a librarian and we do clean the books. Honest. And the shelves.

Everything has been touched by so many people before it reaches you, it’s not even funny. Everything you buy from a shop, for example, do you think it has never been handled before? Even books from Waterstones will have been fingered by a fair few people before you bought it.

You’re being snobby.

i don’t borrow library books for exactly this reason

ATM's, shopping trollies and toilet handles are all minging and I'm do carry hand gel for those very things. I don't think that's odd, they're vile.

The other thing I can't bear is going to a lovely bakery or something for a scone and they're all sitting there by the til. Last week the woman in front of me picked up about three different scones, turned them over, stuck them to her nose to smell them and put them back. No bloody way ...

don't use hand rails on stairs in stations

Personally I’d rather risk a tummy upset than a broken leg or neck. Not that I’ve ever caught anything from handrails.

This thread is crazy. How do you have the brain space for this? Wash your hands properly a few times per day and you'll be fine.

The cleanest people I know are the ones who are ill all the time. There also seems to be a link between extreme cleanliness and asthma and eczma. Put the antibac gel away, you're causing antibiotic resistance.

GET A GRIP. Germs are all around so unless you want to live in a bubble then just get over it. You will pass your neurotic behavior on to your kids and in a few years be on here wondering about why your child is doing something neurotic and obsessive.

Back in the day library books used to have a notice pasted in the back saying you had to notify the library if there was any infectious disease in your house. Not there anymore so, presumably, the risk of infection is now hought to be zero.

My elderly neighbour when we were growing up used to put library books in the oven before she read them. I don't know what heat or how long - and these wouldn't have plastic covers - but you could do that if it makes you more comfortable?

I really don’t think it’s helpful to encourage/facilitate obsessive behaviours like these. If the OP starts to cook her library books she’ll only find something else to obsess about. Therapeutic intervention is what’s needed.

I’ve been a librarian for over a decade now and, despite handling the books on a daily basis, I can’t say I’ve been any more ill than would be considered “normal”. A close family member is also a librarian and never seems to be ill!

As PPs have said, please don’t put the books in an oven or microwave - even if they are not rfid tagged, a number of book covers contain plastic and would warp. Many libraries would invoice you for this kind of damage.

We check the books when they are returned and clean up those that are a little dirty with disinfectant (or Milton on kids stock). Anything that cannot be cleaned to a satisfactory level gets withdrawn —and sent to the incinerator— . My current library also has an annual cleaning project where the books are removed from the shelf, the shelf thoroughly cleaned, then each individual book also cleaned before being returned to position.

So libraries, and their stock, are probably cleaner than you think

HCC - I do NOT think you have a problem at all - to me that is all common sense stuff and I am the exact same

You’re kidding aren’t you? IMO, you both have a problem.

I do some work with the library service. The librarians really do try to make sure the books are cleaned.

However they tell me that they have found all sorts in books. Including, I kid you not, a fried egg.

But seriously, op do something about this anxiety as this isn't a healthy or happy way to think or live.

Thankfully my child also hates books that are damaged and dirty

Well there’s a surprise.

Put the antibac gel away, you're causing antibiotic resistance.

@Teachermaths, I should probably have said, I'm not normally so anal about this stuff (apart from the cakes), but I'm having chemo just now so I'm a bit over the top at the mo I suppose.

Last year my 18-month old niece dropped a piece of banana on a path in a busy a London Park, stepped on it, stepped back, scraped it off the floor and shoved it in her mouth before anyone could stop her. Still makes me gag to think about it but she was fine. Germs are everywhere. Our bodies are really good at dealing with them.

You’re kidding aren’t you? IMO, you both have a problem

Lovely to see you being so supportive of my own and the other persons' mental heath

Borrow ‘The Name of the Rose’ by Umberto Eco next time!

I once borrowed a very old copy of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (hardback, spine falling apart, yellowing pages - you get the gist). When I opened it there were loads of little yellow bugs inside I slammed it shut and took it back when the library opened. Still gives me the shivers and I rarely take out a library book now.
Totally get where you're coming from OP. I'm very conscious of germs everywhere in public - I wash my hands before eating anything when I'm out and about and wash them as soon as I get into the house. I'm also the weirdo that opens public toilet doors with a paper towel too

Lovely to see you being so supportive of my own and the other persons' mental heath

Posters trying to normalise your anxiety aren’t exactly doing you any favours.

Lovely to see you being so supportive of my own and the other persons' mental heath

You said you don’t have an issue with your mental health and everything you do is normal?

Surely it's better to point out to an anxious person that no, their behaviour isn't normal than to validate that behaviour? It's not unkind to point out that most of us aren't microwaving library books or touching buttons with our fingers inside our jacket. It's surely more unkind to reassure the anxious person that their behaviour is indeed entirely normal, allowing them to spiral to more and more extremes?

There's nobody being nasty and name calling, but pointing out that a high level of anxiety about "germs" is something to be tackled is entirely rational.