1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel Bomb here with another classic episode from our archives, 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: especially since the COVID pandemic. We live in a very 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: germ conscious world, but it turns out that we don't 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: have to worry about sharing books. The only peril in 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: them is to their characters. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: Bomb here. You remember books, words printed on paper, bound 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: between two covers. When Gutenberg introduced the printing press in 9 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: fourteen fifty, books became objects of extraordinary wonder that would 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: change the world. Throughout the centuries, These fascinating, tactile objects 11 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: educated and amused, instructed and advised, and curled up with 12 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: us on rainy nights, sparking our imaginations. In eighteenth century America, 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: lending libraries became egalitarian sanctuaries of knowledge, where farmers and 14 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: financiers alike could access for free all the mysteries of 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: the world. But in our current virtual, ephemeral, device driven culture, 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: books have become marginalized clutter. Sometimes casually thrown away. Books, 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: just like the rest of us, can end up in 18 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: some truly grungy places. In some cases, Bona fide treasures 19 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: have literally been tossed into garbage bins and kicked to 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: the curb a couple of cases in Point in Vancouver, 21 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: British Columbia. In twenty seventeen, a homeless man salvaged four 22 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: rough condition eighteen seventies Moroccan leather books from an alleyway 23 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: trash heap. Turns out, the four volumes, titled The Far East, 24 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: consists of twenty four issues of a rare English language 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: news magazine published in Shanghai, China, between eighteen seventy and 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy eight. Back in two thousand and nine, Suthebee's 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: in London auctioned one hundred and eighteen issues of the 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: same periodical, with one hundred and twelve original album in prints, 29 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: the largest collection to surface on the market in thirty years, 30 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: for over forty two thousand dollars. Don Stewart, a veteran 31 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: bookseller and the owner of renowned mclloyd's Books in downtown Vancouver, 32 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: who who purchased the volumes for an undisclosed amount, said 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: it's the best thing ever to come out of the 34 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: garbage that I've ever encountered. And then in Ankara, Turkey, 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: over a period of time, sanitation workers in the Turkish 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,239 Speaker 1: capital collected thousands of discarded books while making their garbage pickups. 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: Instead of abandoning them to landfills, these thoughtful, curious stewards 38 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: of knowledge rescued the books and compiled a library that 39 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: now houses six thousand volumes in every imaginable genre. Originally, 40 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: the library was set up only for the sanitation workers 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: and their families, but as words spread, people began to 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: donate cast off books, and the library opened to the 43 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: public in September of twenty seventeen. Now a vital part 44 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: of the community, the library is located in an old 45 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: brick building at the headquarters of the city's sanitation department. 46 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: The collection of salvaged volumes has grown so large that 47 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: the library now loans books to schools, various educational programs, 48 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: and prisons. These books, like any used books, may carry 49 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: the stains and abrasions of their former experiences, including generations 50 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: of people handling them. But as much as books may 51 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: impact us, how much of an impact do we leave 52 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: on books. Let's skip over to Los Angeles in twenty seventeen. 53 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: Sick at home with the flu Chyanne dabert A sixteen 54 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: year old high school sophomore wondered if she was getting 55 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: contagious germs all over the library books she was reading, 56 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: and then began to wonder if library books in general 57 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: might be potential carriers of infectious disease. So she created 58 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: an award winning international Science Fair project to find out. 59 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: With the help of local librarians, she chose popular books 60 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: that were checked out often and rubbed methodically taken swabs 61 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: from each book onto four Petrie dishes per book. Two 62 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: of the dishes contained agar, a substance that bacteria thrive upon, 63 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: and two of the dishes contained methylene blue, a chemical 64 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: that thwarts the growth of certain bacteria while enabling others. Next, 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: she put the plates in an oven at body temperature 66 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: to find out how many microbial colonies were present and 67 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: guess what, fearless library cardholders. Not much bacteria was present 68 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: on the books she tested, and none of the swabs 69 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: exhibited E. Coli. With that in mind, say hello to formites. 70 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: A formite is any non living object or substance capable 71 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: of carrying infectious organisms, such as viruses or bacteria, and 72 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: transferring them from one individual to another. We spoke via 73 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: email with Jesset Jacob, MD, an Associate professor of medicine 74 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: and hospital epidemiologist at Emory University Hospital Midtown. He said 75 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: that books and e readers can be considered formites, but 76 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: quote the infection risk is very low. Asked if it's 77 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: possible to get sick from touching a library book, for example, 78 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: someone with the flu licked their finger to turn the pages, 79 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: or sneezed or coughed on the book, Jacob said it's possible, 80 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: but unlikely. Influenza can survive on paper and cloth for 81 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: less than twelve hours. It's usually the respiratory secretions that 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: carry the highest burden virus, and it would not be 83 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: expected on spit, so licking a finger and turning a 84 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: page is less likely contagious than picking your nose and 85 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: then turning the page. Important safety tip, Jacob continued. Most 86 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: respiratory viruses are transmitted by indirect contact, such as when 87 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: a person touches an object think doorknobs and handles that 88 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: has been contaminated and then inadvertently touches a mucous membrane 89 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: such as the lining of the eyes, nose, and mouth. 90 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: While bacteria can potentially be spread by books or tablets 91 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: in most people, it will not cause infection. Asked what 92 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: kind of bacteria and viruses have the strongest survivability on paper, 93 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: Jacob said gram positive bacteria such as strep and staff 94 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,799 Speaker 1: are better at persisting on surfaces in general, followed by viruses. 95 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: Jacob suggests that because so many people are allergic to 96 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: dust and mold, those are probably bigger problems than bacteria 97 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: or viruses on books. He left us with this sage 98 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: advice good for shared books and any other objects. Clean 99 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: your hands and avoid touching your face or mucous membranes 100 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: with potentially contaminated fingers to avoid catching a virus. So, 101 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: if you perchance regret tossing that once cherished, dog eared, 102 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: pizza stained copy of whatever it was that first ignited 103 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: your passions or awakened your sensibilities, but why not revisit 104 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: another well loved copy by checking it out at your 105 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: local library. According to Jacob, the odds of it making 106 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: you sick are quote very low, but with a pine, 107 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: the odds of it making you happy are very very high. 108 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article used books may 109 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: be jermy, but they won't make you sick. On how 110 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: stuffworks dot com, written by Kerry Tatrow. Brainstuff is production 111 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and 112 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: this episode was produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang. 113 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, 114 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.