Innovative project: Cleaning of books with special machine in Rijeka City Library

That a coronaviorus pandemic is changing many habits is a known fact, and the world of reading and libraries has not been spared either. As one of our main missions is to enable and maintain the path of books to readers in all possible conditions, we decided to implement significant innovation which at this stage has the status of pilot project in order to become standard of work, even after the danger of coronavirus passes because book hygiene is a special and big issue.

Although the COVID-19 disease pandemic acted as a kind of catalyst that accelerated the whole process and made such a device necessary, we concluded that the implementation of such devices in the work of libraries is necessary at a time we call "normal". Namely, we all know that the same copies of the book have been in circulation for years, which leaves different consequences on them. During this time, the dust is removed from the books according to the possibilities, but to clean insideof the books is not possible without the appropriate equipment.

The supply of such devices on the market is currently limited and they are mostly devices from Asian countries. We found an avant-garde but quality solution that will meet our current needs in distant South Korea.

It is a device of the Korean company LIVA called LIVA EBS-401, which, in addition to UV lamps in charge of destroying the virus, also uses the air flow to remove dust from books. The manufacturer guarantees efficiency in the removal of animals (lice, mites…), bacteria and viruses (specifically coronavirus - COVID-19), which will significantly improve the cleanliness of books and safety standards.

The device is implemented in the work of the Central Department "Filodrammatica", the busiest location of Rijeka City Library.

If the results turn out to be good, the ambition in the future is to cover all other locations with similar technologies and procedures. Idea is to create completely new standard of health safety, independent of similar future epidemic situations.

Be safe and keep reading. :)