A journey toward a more safe and secure university library

Abstract

Safety and security operations at Appalachian State’s Belk Library & Information Commons have evolved and improved over the past 15 years with a focused access services oriented team. Improvements have focused on the challenges posed in four primary areas: understanding the customer base and the challenges posed therein; improving the skills and expanding the pool of library personnel capable of handling security incidents; allowing effective outside security operations and personnel to improve over time; and acting on multiple access issues. The authors of this case study provide insight and recommendations on the challenges faced and actions taken.

Keywords:

• Academic library
• facility management
• library buildings
• library safety
• library security
• security systems

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.