The oldest library in Hungary fights to provide 100,000 books from the beetle invasion

Tens of thousands of books dating back from a monastery of the Middle Ages in Hungary are pulled in an attempt to save them from the beetle invasion that can die centuries of history.

Pannonhalma Archabbey, a 1000 -year -old, is the Pindechentine Monastery and is one of the oldest learning centers in Hungary and UNESCO World Heritage.

The restoration workers remove about 100,000 books manually from their shelves and carefully put them in the boxes, and the beginning of the purification process that aims to kill the small betrayal that is being held.

Pharmaceutical beetle, also known as baking beetle, is often found between dried nutrients such as grains, flour and spices. But they are also attracted to the gelatin and starch adhesives in the books.

It was found in a section of the library around a quarter of the monastery folder 400000.

"This is the advanced insect infection that has been discovered in several parts of the library, so the entire group is classified as an infected and must all be treated at the same time," Zsófia Edit Hajdu, the main design in the project, said. "We haven’t faced such a degree of infection before."

A monastery that includes historical treasures

The beetle invasion was first discovered during the cleaning of the routine library. The employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves, then they saw that the holes had been burned in some spine. When opening the folders, holes can be seen in the paper where the beetles are chewed.

The monastery was established in Pannonhalma in 996, four years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. The monastery sits on a long hill in the northwest of Hungary, and includes the oldest collection of books in the country, as well as many first and most important written records.

More than 1000 years ago, the monastery was among the most prominent religious and cultural sites in Hungary and all Central Europe, where centuries of wars and foreign incursions survived such as the Ottoman invasion and the occupation of Hungary in the sixteenth century.

Ilona Mineeral, director of the Bannah Library, said, "modest" Through the historical and cultural treasures that the group keeps whenever it enters.

"It is amazing to believe that there is a library here a thousand years ago, and that we are the guards of the first books catalog in Hungary," She said.

Among the most prominent works of the library is 19 code, including the full Bible of the thirteenth century. It also includes several hundreds of manuscripts that preceded the invention of the press printed in the middle of the fifteenth century and tens of thousands of books from the sixteenth century.

While the oldest and embodiment of publications and books are stored separately and they did not get injured, Asványi said that any group damage represents a blow to the cultural, historical and religious heritage.

"When I see a book chewed by beetle or infected in any other way, I feel that regardless of the number of copies that are published and how much the book’s ability has been lost, a culture has been lost," She said.

Books will spend weeks in an oxygen -free environment

To kill the beetles, the book boxes are placed in long and tightly sealed plastic bags that are removed all oxygen. After six weeks in the pure nitrogen environment, the monastery hopes that all beetles will be destroyed.

Before it is reinforced, each book will be searched separately and unloaded. Any book damaged from the pests will be dedicated to subsequent restoration work.

Climate change may have contributed

The monastery, which hopes to reopen the library at the beginning of next year, believes that the effects of climate change played a role in stimulating the beetle infection with a high average temperature in Hungary.

Hagdo, the chief candidate, said that the higher temperatures allowed the beetles to undergo several development sessions more annually than in cold weather.

"High temperatures are favorable for insect life," She said. "We have so far dealt with mold damage in both depositors and in open groups. But now I think more insect injuries will appear due to global warming."

The director of the library said that life in Deir Al -Bindiktin is governed by a group of rules used for nearly 15 centuries, a symbol that they need to do everything in his power to save his wide collection.

"It says in the ruling of St. Benedict that all the monastery’s property should be considered the same value as the sacred ship of the altar," The minerals said. "I feel responsible for what this memorization and memorization mean."

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