The Fairport Public Library is home to its share of bookworms.
But maggots? They’re not welcome.
The library unexpectedly closed to patrons this week due to what the library’s director described Tuesday as an infestation of fly larvae concentrated in a small area of the building reserved for staff offices.
Library director Carl Gouveia said the infestation marked the third time in three years that maggots in the staff room have forced the library to shutter. He anticipated that the library would reopen on Wednesday.
Gouveia said a worker discovered the infestation early Monday. The library posted a notice on its Facebook page shortly before 7 a.m. saying that the library would be closed due to “a maintenance issue.” A subsequent post in the afternoon specified the issue.
“I didn’t make it in to see exactly what it looked like, but last time, the best way I could say it is that it looked like it was after a wedding, you know?” Gouveia said. “But instead of rice, it was the larvae.”
Fairport Public Library has been in the bowels of the two-story Fairport Village Landing plaza on Main Street since 1978. Part of the library fronts Main Street, but another part is effectively underneath a strip of retail outlets.
As in the past, the maggots found their way into the library through a back door that abuts two outdoor Dumpsters reserved for tenants of the plaza, which houses a few food-related businesses. The library staff offices are on the other side of the door.
The previous infestations, in 2021 and 2022, also occurred in late summer, the so-called “dog days,” when waves of hot and humid weather are common and conditions are ideal for flies to breed.
The trash in those Dumpsters is normally picked up three times a week. But Fairport Village Landing manager Mark Pavia said a scheduled pickup was missed last week due to the Labor Day holiday.
“The issue has been addressed and taken care of,” Pavia said.
Upon learning of the infestation, Pavia and Gouveia explained, Pavia arranged for four additional trash totes to be delivered to the premises, the exterior door and wall to be washed, and an exterminator to fumigate the premises.
Countless maggots were strewn about the pavement surrounding the Dumpsters on Tuesday.
The library also rescheduled a biannual carpet cleaning for the entire library to coincide with the closure. The cleaning had been slated for later this month.
Fairport taxpayers in 2010 rejected a $16.3 million proposal to rehab and expand the library, which had been described by staff and patrons as “dull” and “dank.”
But residents approved a more modest renovation at about a quarter of the cost four years later. That project opened the library to Main Street, refurbished the children’s section, enhanced technology, and introduced new reading areas.
“I really hate having to close the library,” Gouveia said. “But when it comes to the safety and health of my staff and the public, I have to be mindful.”
He added, “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stuff they don’t teach you in library school.”
