A priceless library is in danger—beetles are eating through centuries of history
Hungary’s oldest library is under threat from a swarm of hungry beetles.
Hungary’s oldest library, located within the thousand-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey, is fighting to save around 100,000 historic books after a major infestation of beetles was discovered.
Staff uncovered the outbreak earlier this year during routine cleaning when they noticed tiny holes in book spines, fine dust, and signs of tunnelling inside the pages.
The beetles—also known as bread beetles—feed on the starch- and gelatin-based adhesives used in older bindings. The infestation is now considered one of the most serious the library has faced, affecting roughly a quarter of its 400,000-volume collection.
‘When I see a book chewed up... a piece of culture has been lost’
Founded in 996, the Archabbey is a Benedictine monastery and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its library holds an exceptional array of historic materials, including medieval codices, a 13th-century Bible, pre-print manuscripts, and thousands of early printed books. The outbreak is particularly troubling not only because of the number of books affected but because of their immense cultural, religious, and historical significance.
“This is an advanced insect infestation which has been detected in several parts of the library, so the entire collection is classified as infected and must be treated all at the same time,” said Zsófia Edit Hajdu, the chief restorer on the project. “We’ve never encountered such a degree of infection before.”
Ilona Ásványi, director of the Pannonhalma Archabbey library, said that “when I see a book chewed up by a beetle or infected in any other way, I feel that no matter how many copies are published and how replaceable the book is, a piece of culture has been lost,” she said. However, it has been confirmed that the oldest and rarest prints and books are stored separately and have not been infected by the infestation.
CNN write that: “To kill the beetles, the crates of books are being placed into tall, hermetically sealed plastic sacks from which all oxygen is removed. After six weeks in the pure nitrogen environment, the abbey hopes all the beetles will be destroyed.”
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Their report adds that climate change is to blame for the increasing number of beetles that have made their way into the library, with “higher temperatures have allowed the beetles to undergo several more development cycles annually than they could in cooler weather.”
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