UPDATED:Bedbugs Close Miller Memorial Library

Updated at 4:15 p.m.:

"The company is hard at work baking the books and doing heat treatments and they are hopeful that the library will be cleared by the end of the day," Leng said. "We will then reinspect over the weekend or on Monday to make sure it is clear.

"Tomorrow [Saturday] the library branches will be inspected and will be treated if necessary," he said. "Progress is going very well and they hope to have the bedbugs eliminated at Miller by tonight."

Original story:

Town officials have confirmed that the Miller Memorial Library is closed Friday and Saturday in order to be treated for bedbugs.

"The library got a call this week from an anonymous patron saying there were bedbugs found in a book they had taken out," Chief Administrative Officer Curt Balzano Leng said. "So the town called a professional company to come in and assess the condition of the library as a precautionary measure and the dogs used to locate bedbugs found a location that needed treatment.

"The treatment used is an intense heat treatment," he said. "We had the company and the dogs review the ret of the library and several areas were found to have a problem. We closed the library today so that the treatments can be conducted today and over the weekend to attempt to rid the library of this problem.

"The Middletown library had a bedbug problem earlier this week," he said. "The town is working with the Quinnipiac Health Department and licensed professionals to address the problem swiftly and completely."

Anyone who has taken books out of the library recently is asked to return them in a zip-lock bag without opening them, Leng said. But it's not yet clear when the library will reopen.

"The town and the library staff are working hard to attack this problem head-on so the library can reopen as soon as possible with this issue addressed in a comprehensive manner," Leng said.