UD installs security gates in Morris Library
The University of Delaware recently installed turnstiles in Morris Library as a new security measure to protect students, faculty, staff and community visitors. Library users scan their UD ONEcard at the entrance in order to open the gate.
NEWARK POST PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS
Those visiting the University of Delaware’s Morris Library may notice new automated metal gates as they walk through the door that make going to the library look more like getting on the subway.
The turnstile system was installed as a security measure and consists of six gates with arms activated by the swipe of a UD ONEcard, allowing only one person to pass through at a time. It is similar to the gates at the entrance of the university’s Carpenter Sports Building.
According to Shelly McCoy, interim associate university librarian for services, outreach and assessment, parents and administrators were concerned about student and public safety on campus due to the number of school-related shootings that have occurred across the country in the last few years.
“It wasn’t something the library decided to do. It came from above,” she said.
Upon entering the library, UD students, faculty and staff must now tap their ONEcards on a card reader at the turnstiles. ONEcards are the student IDs used for accessing dorms and other buildings.
Visitors, on the other hand, have to report to a new welcome desk staffed by UD police, located just before the gates, to show photo identification and sign in to access the library.
Frequent visitors and public borrowers can register for a free library ONEcard at the Circulation and Reserve Desk, which will allow them to walk through the gates without having to sign in at the welcome desk.
“Even though we have these gates and this new system, we want the community to know this library is still accessible,” McCoy said.
More than 6,000 people visit the Morris Library every day during the spring and fall semesters, and it’s not just students and faculty. McCoy said public borrowers from all over the state, Newark residents, campus tour groups and high school students walk through the doors as well.
Although the new turnstiles won’t completely prevent an active shooter from entering the library, McCoy said they are a “deterrent.” In addition to the gates, cameras were also installed at the entrance to capture visitors on video, and data from ONEcards and other forms of identification provide police and university officials with a record of everyone inside the building.
The data also lets library officials see what type of users – students, faculty, community members – are accessing the facility.
“We always say we’re 20 percent community, but now we will really be able to know,” McCoy said.
The university spent more than $200,000 on the welcome desk, cameras, software and turnstiles, which were installed over winter session and were up and running by the time students started spring semester last week.
However, the new gates aren’t the only security features library visitors have to pass through on their way in. In August 2014, UD put up clear glass gates that use Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) to pick up barcodes on books, videos and equipment from the Student Multimedia Design Center, meaning visitors no longer have to get their bags checked as they leave the library. If a person walks through the gates without checking out materials, an alarm sounds and he or she is directed to the circulation desk.
McCoy said the gates may look overwhelming at first, but getting into the library is quite simple once visitors get the hang of it. She said a library employee will be stationed at the entrance throughout the spring and fall semesters until visitors become accustomed to the new technology.
Although the Morris Library is part of the university, McCoy said the turnstiles were not installed to keep Newark residents out.
“The community is always welcome,” she said. “That has never changed and won’t ever change.”