I am the head librarian at a university in Lahore. We have a collection of rare manuscripts, some over three hundred years old. They are irreplaceable. Last year, a student noticed fine brown dust on the floor near the manuscript cabinet. I cleaned it. It came back. I looked inside the cabinet. The bottom of the wooden shelf was crumbling. Termites. My heart stopped. I called pest control services in Lahore immediately.

Why Termites Love Libraries

Termites love paper. Paper is made from wood. Old manuscripts are especially vulnerable because the paper is often brittle and acidic. The termites had entered through a crack in the wall behind the cabinet. They had built a mud tunnel up the wall and into the wooden shelf. They had started eating the bottom of the manuscripts in the lowest shelf.

I knew I could not spray chemicals near the manuscripts. I needed a termite treatment in Lahore that was safe for paper.

What Professional Termite Treatment Involved

I called three pest control services in Lahore. The first two wanted to spray chemicals. I explained about the manuscripts. They did not understand. The third company specialized in termite treatment in Lahore for libraries and archives. They had experience. They did not use sprays. Instead, they used a baiting system. Small plastic stakes containing a slow acting poison were placed in the soil around the library. Termites would eat the bait, carry it back to their colony, and share it. The colony would die within weeks.

They also treated the wooden cabinet with a gel that kills termites on contact. They advised us to move the manuscripts to metal shelves and to throw away all cardboard boxes.

The Result

The termite treatment took three months to fully work. The baiting system killed the colony. We have had no termites since. The damaged manuscripts were sent to a conservator. A few pages were lost, but most were saved. History was preserved.

If you have paper, books, or important documents, do not ignore termites. They are silent destroyers. A professional termite treatment in Lahore from a company that understands your needs is not expensive compared to the cost of losing irreplaceable history. Our library learned that lesson. Please learn from us.