Bed bugs and books. A scary combination. I never gave it a thought until one night I turned a page in a used book and out came three bugs. Again, didn’t give it much thought – they were petrified, after all – until I couldn’t get the image of the bugs out of my head.

A late-night check on the computer confirmed my worst fears: bed bugs.

Books and bed bugs, it seems, are not that uncommon. A couple years ago the Denver Public Library had to quarantine a section of historic books contaminated by a library patron and ended up destroying many of those books. Similar scenarios take place at libraries nationwide.

So how did the bed bugs get into the book I was reading? They could have come from a reader whose home was infested or the previous reader may have taken the book on vacation and the little critters decided to do some traveling themselves.

Some avid readers now eschew print books altogether for electronic readers. But if you are among those who will continue to buy used books online and at garage sales, you might want to take precautions. Start by buying your books from a dealer you can trust, such as BBB Accredited Businesses.

Read more: http://wynco.bbb.org/post/bed-bugs-check-out-books-too-11465