# How unsanitary ARE library books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973 "2013-07-08T20:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![abderian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@abderian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abderian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/21 "2013-07-09T22:14:48Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > I assume you have never had norovirus. Apparently hand sanitizer is considered “[useless](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/hand-sanitizer-is-useless-against-the-norovirus-cdc-research/article7379053/)” [against](http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/01/28/Hand-sanitizers-wont-kill-norovirus/UPI-64081359407287/)[norovirus](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232708.php). ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/22 "2013-07-09T23:26:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Not a librarian, but . . . I’d stay away from anything containing nudes. Actually, that’s very sound advice. I used to work for my University’s library as an undergrad. Part of my job, when working the Sunday evening shift, was to canvass the entire library and collect all of the books that were lying around (as opposed to being reshelved by the persons using them) and bringing them back to our sorting room. There were always **stacks** of books containing images of nude paintings on the floor in the top floor men’s room. That being said, if you’re worried about sanitation the fact that they were on the bathroom floor should probably be the least of your concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/23 "2013-07-09T23:35:37Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > I assume you have never had norovirus. > [@Aspidistra](#): > > …and neither have most regular library users… Hi! I’m Broomstick and I’m a regular library user who has had norovirus! Really - was in the hospital a full week in 2005 with the damn virus, although without library books at the time. I most likely did NOT catch it from books, more likely at that restaurant where a several other people got sick and one of the staff turned out to be a carrier. Funny, though - I still eat at restaurants, and I still check out library books. I’m also careful to wash my hands prior to eating, which probably does more to check contamination from what I’ve been handling than anything else. Yeah, there are germs out there, always have been, always will be. I’m not ready to retreat to a bubble. Life is too short to exist in fear of everything. ---
**Author:** ![yawuntz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a5b964/32.png) [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/24 "2013-07-10T00:59:20Z")
[Bedbugs in library books](http://www.bpl.bc.ca/news/bedbug-faqs) ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/25 "2013-07-10T03:32:40Z")
If you’re worried about library books, then don’t ever touch a door handle of any public or commercial facility, or the handle of a shopping cart, or a stair bannister, or your mail. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/26 "2013-07-10T04:12:22Z")
Oh, I dunno, how many times has somebody taken a shit in the urinal at your grocery store? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/27 "2013-07-10T11:42:40Z")
I also doubt that dry paper books are fertile ground for bacteria. I’d be more wary of raw fruits and vegetables-ever wonder what that lettuce you ate was watered with? Cooked food is MUCH safer. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/28 "2013-07-10T13:05:41Z")
> [@souper234](#): > > My grandmother used to cringe when we’d bring them home, then reach for the handiwipes. > > How right (or wrong) was she? Could a librarian or kindly Doper set me straight? Did she do the same after handling money? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/29 "2013-07-10T15:49:11Z")
Not norovirus, but I did once catch a bad case of the Vashta Nerada from a library book… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/30 "2013-07-10T15:53:31Z")
I got some of those board books for my husband’s granddaughter (age 8 months). She tasted them all thoroughly, but seems to be okay so far. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973/31 "2013-07-10T18:19:38Z")
When I worked in a university library your hands would get very dirty from handling books. They all had plastic covers to keep them clean, but the covers themselves were nasty. Also, at one point there was a fight and some books got sprayed with blood. They went back on the shelves, I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-unsanitary-are-library-books/662973.md?page=1)