Ekologi Perpustakaan hal 175-185

STOCK SECURITY: LOSS AND DAMAGE MANAGEMENT

The theft of books and other materials is a fairly common occurrence in libraries, as they fall
victims to professional or amateur thieves, including members of staff. A 1992 survey report of
all types of library concluded ‘that losses of books alone exceed £150 million each year. Book
mutilation, too, is widespread’. While losses vary from one type of library to another, ‘the
average loss rate for public libraries alone was 5.3 per cent’, although the scale of their loss
varied amongst public libraries.83 In order to minimize the mutilation and loss of library
materials, the usual safeguards of visible staff desks and better layouts are advanced.
The deployment of electronic book theft detection systems is not considered foolproof: ‘they can
be evaded by determined thieves ... and they are inadequate to the task of protecting rare books
and manuscripts’. Library departments with rare books and archives, such as a local studies
department, can make use of a range of security devices, like CCTV and electronic detection
systems. But staff surveillance, restricted access and stricter rules and procedures for requesting,
using and returning material are important preventative measures.
Although reporting significant losses, the 1992 report recognized ‘the very substantial
investment the library service has already made in the prevention of theft and mutilation, and
towards minimising the consequences of those acts’.
Stock theft is both a financial and service issue as it results, for example, in replacement costs,
loss of income (where a fee is charged for the loan of some formats), the unavailability of wanted
items for users, and damage to the library’s image and staff morale. A 2001 study of theft of all
types of library material, equipment and property in English public libraries found that:
• Equipment loss was diverse in character but included loss of computers and related equipment
• There was an increase in theft, resulting in a 10 per cent loss compared with 5.3 per cent in
1992
• The most vulnerable materials were new books, videos, CDs, playstation games and DVDs
• while ‘it is possible to “forecast” areas of stock that are vulnerable to theft, it is very difficult
to second guess which libraries are most at risk – a fact that makes security management a far
from simple issue’
Case study: theft in a new library
A case study of a new library opening with a stock of 20,000 items demonstrates the amount of
theft than can take place. A full stock take was carried out after six months showing that the
percentage loss of book stock across the categories ranged from 5 per cent to 48 per cent. The
overall loss averages were 14.4 per cent for fiction and 13.4 per
PLANNING PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDINGS
Cent for non-fiction; within six months of opening the library had lost 14% of its bookstock. The
case study underlines the need for security to be seen as a major challenge and priority for
librarians:
Library security has to be put at the forefront of planning strategy. It is a pointless exercise to
spend thousands of pounds on new stock if it is there for the taking (and not returning).
Security factors for library materials include the following:
• Electronic security systems have been found to reduce the amount of theft but not put an end to
it completely: RFID (radio frequency identification) technology (discussed later in this chapter)
could improve future stock monitoring and library security
• CCTV can lead to a reduction in theft-related incidents
• Library layout should not be thief-friendly
• Those categories of stock prone to be stolen must be identified and protected.
A series of ideal (but user-unfriendly) measures, such as photo ID for admission, have been
proposed by one writer on library security and safety and this would put a high degree of security
in place in a library. While surveillance cameras are already in use in many libraries, an ideal
system is probably not financially realistic (and rather intimidating) for general use in most
public libraries, although not perhaps in departments housing rare and valuable material. A less
demanding version of these ideal measures designed to stop crime might be enshrined in a set of
library rules and regulations. These would require, for example, coats, briefcases and other
personal belongings to be placed in a locker outside a room or department that needs to be
particularly secure.
A major security discussion point is that librarians wish to encourage the use of the library rather
than police the library’s collection. Librarians are prepared, it would seem, to absorb the stock
losses, or fail to acknowledge them, in preference to a zero tolerance policy that is time-
consuming and intimidatory rather than helpful and friendly. Nevertheless, theft is an unsocial
act and a more proactive approach to theft is needed; particularly one that protects rare and
valuable material: ‘Librarians must accept much of the blame for losses to theft, due to their
indifference, innocence, ignorance, and complacency.
ELECTRONIC SECURITY: DATA AND EQUIPMENT
Electronic security issues are concerned with computer misuse; that is, the unauthorized
obtaining, removal, alteration or destruction of stored information. While ‘good security is
imperative; really good security is really expensive’ but a number of defensive strategies and
tactics have been suggested for keeping data secure, such as firewalls and encryption, although
these are not the focus of attention here.
SUSTAINABILITY, SAFETY, SECURITY AND SYSTEMS
In addition to data misuse, there is also the theft, wilful damage or destruction of computer
equipment. The management response to this problem will be to once again ensure that the
library site, building features and interior layout offer no help to thieves and intruders by easing
access or screening the wrongdoer from observation – equipment should be placed where it can
be seen. ICT areas and rooms need to be adequately secure when the building is closed, although
such protection is more difficult when public workstations are distributed round the library.
Vulnerable hardware can be locked in place, disabled and security marked. Audits and spot
checks of security measures, satisfactory inventories, adequate insurance and a plan which
anticipates a partial or total failure of IT security, including the kind of disasters described
earlier, can all help prevent or mitigate security problems.
VANDALISM
Book damage can be seen as vandalism, but the latter is usually thought of as destructive acts
like the daubing of the library exterior, the breaking of windows or the vandalizing of staff and
readers’ cars. The entry of vandals into the library after closing time can result in damage to
library materials and equipment, the spray-painting of walls, and the smashing of furniture and
fittings. Vandalism sometimes climaxes in arson, which has the potential to destroy the library
and its contents completely.
Vandalism is usually the work of young people and is carried out in pursuit of theft, to publicize
a cause, to seek revenge or to engage in ‘play’ or group vandalizing activity. The prevention of
vandalism is tied up with general security of the library building and its contents, as considered
earlier, and with such procedures as dealing with cash and locking up.
Damage to buildings and graffiti, it is recognized, encourage further vandalism and so prompt
repair of the damage is essential. Whether outside or inside the library, graffiti – messages,
names and symbols etched into table tops, glass and plastic surfaces, for example – should be
swiftly removed. If it persists, ‘consider treating all masonry surfaces with a protective coating to
make cleaning easier’. Bournemouth Library uses graffiti-resistant bricks for its exterior walls
that can be easily cleaned. Libraries that suffer continually from damage from vandals may need
to resort to a fortress mentality and employ grills or shutters over windows and doors. Although
unlikely to be a complete cure, greater community involvement that stimulates the positive use
of the library by disaffected youngsters, perhaps through games clubs, can be a way forward.
But of all the precautionary measures libraries can take against such crimes [vandalism, theft and
arson], none is more basic than that of securing the building itself. Basic building protection
includes door and window security and installing a burglar alarm system. Other weapons include
CCTV; electronically accessed entryways; alarms on exit doors; access authorization cards; and
sign-in sheets.
PLANNING PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDINGS
The future of library security and its improvement is bound up with advances in technology, such
as biometric smart cards, and of the virtual library, where more and more material is available in
digitized or electronic form. Nevertheless it seems there will still be a security task to
... Preserve our materials ... while at the same time ... protect the library building’s occupants ...
To lose such a battle, after all, would be to concede defeat in an extremely important war for
access to the cultural record of mankind.
Cornwall’s libraries have begun issuing and using smart cards for library and other local
services, although not specifically as a security device. It is recognized that the smart card
presents many opportunities for payment of fines and so on, and even as a loyalty card. The
cards are expensive items and their use requires investment in new equipment, such as a smart
card reader and digital camera for processing applications – a costly exercise for existing and
new library buildings.
LIBRARY HANDLING SYSTEMS
Although principally concerned with books, three problems have been identified concerning the
handling of library materials that must receive attention in the architect’s brief: distribution,
replacement and retrieval. Increasingly there is the potential in libraries for these processes to be
mechanized or automated and ‘replacement’ (returning materials to the shelves) has become
more complex with the advent of self-issue systems linked to the robotic sorting of books prior to
shelving. With the exception of self-issue systems, sophisticated methods of distribution and so
on are principally matters for the operation of large libraries or book storage facilities. Library
handling systems are discussed under the following headings:
• Materials circulation
• Automated storage and retrieval
• Self-issue systems
• Robotic sorting.
MATERIALS CIRCULATION
This involves:
• The distribution of books and other materials on arrival in the building
• The movement of books to and from the closed access stacks.
For a large and busy public library both of these matters are likely to be of importance, and
consideration will be given as to how they might be resolved in structural and spatial terms.
In addition to book lifts and hoists, thought might be given to horizontal methods of conveying
material such as conveyor belts, with or without the use of containers. The retrieval of books
from the stacks involves three main stages:
• Notification of the requested item
• Fulfilment of the request – retrieval of the item from its location
• The despatch of the requested item to a service desk.
The retrieval of books from the stacks is often carried out manually, although requesting material
often involves a computerized ordering system conveying messages directly to staff. A number
of methods for the notification of requests and their subsequent despatch have been devised over
the years.
Los Angeles Public Library installed the translogic book conveyance system featuring
17delivery stations and initially electrically driven carts. Half the books in each subject
department are in closed stacks.The telelift system is a tried and tested European materials
circulation method, now also used in the Shanghai Library:
In this system a carrier engages in a track which travels from stack to service point and back
again on the endless belt system electrically controlled. The striking feature is that the belt,
complete with carrier, can climb up and down walls, the books in the carrier being suspended in
an inner container which pivots with gravity.
AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
In the 1980s a few American librarians wrote about applying industrial storage technology to the
needs of libraries, in particular retiring little-used material into automated storage and retrieval
units. The difference from what is described above is that staff are not needed to select items
from the shelves: they are retrieved mechanically. The Lied Library installed an automated
storage and retrieval system in its 2001 building, and Minneapolis Central Library (2006,
32,980m2) is planning to install automated book and materials handling equipment. The space-
saving Randtriever, requiring no staff access, where items in boxes are stacked closely up to
height of around 7.3 metres and retrieved by machine, is similar to that in the large 1991
Bordeaux Municipal Library (26,000m2). There the library installed a robot adapted for handling
the most consulted books. The reader’s request is transmitted automatically to a mobile arm
which selects the box in which the requested work is found from a stack of containers. The
movable arm then puts it down delicately in a cart which is transported up to the reading room.
SELF-ISSUE SYSTEMS
In line with retailing and banking, libraries are turning more and more to self-service operations.
Much of this, such as open access to library materials and OPACs (online SUSTAINABILITY,
SAFETY, SECURITY AND SYSTEMS public access catalogues), with their capacity for
reservation and renewal of material, and so on, is now taken for granted. Librarians expect self-
service to grow even more in the coming years with advances in the technology.
Most of the attention in this area has been focused on the use of self-service issue systems which
‘require a specially designed piece of hardware which has a physical presence in the library’; the
design of the station should prevent fraudulent issuing of library material. By the mid-1990s,
self-service issue systems were to be found in Cologne Public Library, Toensberg Public
Library, Norway, and in Sweden. In the UK, Maidenhead was the first public library to introduce
the 3M self-issue terminal in 1995–96.
Of the many issues surrounding the use of self-service issue systems – managerial, consumer,
staff and systems issues – only design and security matters, likely to affect the library building,
are considered here. Library design may need to be rethought to deal with self-service security
issues, especially as regards counters (see Chapter 10), exits and entrances. Also, as in retailing,
valuable items should not be the subject of self service. Swipe cards may be used to prevent non-
members or members with defined blocks from entering. As has been found elsewhere, many
users may regret the lack of human contact inherent in self-issue systems: ‘customers sometimes
want personal service, and some might want it all the time’.
In 1999 3M announced a digital identification system using RFID (radio frequency
identification) technology to create a method to track and secure library materials. The system
eliminates barcode positioning, thus speeding up the issue process, and allows the retention of
Tattle-Tape security strips. Books and other resources are ‘tagged with tiny microchips activated
by a radio query and respond by transmitting a unique identification code’. Singapore prototyped
this method in one of its libraries in 1998, a RF sensor automatically cancelling loans returned
through the book-drop. The RF sensor and computer screen displayed number are also used by
staff to determine to which shelves books should be returned – shelves are numbered. It was
reported in 2003 that Antwerp and Utrecht public libraries had installed RFID systems in order
to reduce waiting time at counters, reduce bookstock theft and release staff from repetitive tasks.
In spite of the system’s advantages, it was said that cost would mean it was unlikely to be widely
adopted in libraries in the immediate future. However, the refurbishment of Sutton Central
Library, completed in 2005, has created what is believed to be the UK’s first self-service public
library, employing the latest RFID system: ‘This ensures maximum circulation throughput, a
simplified checkout/check-in process, multiple item processing, and enhanced workplace
efficiency and ergonomics’.
ROBOTIC SORTING
For many public libraries, the main handling problem will be that of quickly clearing books and
other materials away from the returns desk. Returned book shelves or trolleys are one way of
dealing with this problem, and, although popular with readers, may not suit all situations.
Another method of handling returned books is with a conveyor belt at the returns desk or self-
return point, like that at the supermarket, removing items to elsewhere in the library (probably a
sorting room located behind the counter) for sorting and then shelving, as at the Barbican Library
(1982). Alternatively, gravity may be used to send books down a shute at the return desk to a
workroom below, as at the Gütersloh Library (1984). Of late, however robotic sorting of returned
material has begun to be used.
Silkeborg Library, Denmark, acquired a robot, Tor, for sorting returned books. In 2003
microchips replaced barcodes in books and were also added to CDs, videos and other formats,
providing self-service for users, improved stock security and relieving staff of routine work.
Another return and sorting system, called Library Mate, was launched by a Danish company in
2003.The Netherlands has announced the development of an automated system to process library
loans and sort returned items, and compete with the Swedish Tor-In system. A prototype using
barcodes and RFID technology, installed at Leidschendam Public Library, is capable of dealing
with 750 items an hour, including nonbook material. In Malmö’s new public library returned
books are transported by conveyor belt to the basement. There they are sorted robotically by bar
code into categorized book trucks, which are then taken to appropriate places in the building for
shelving or to other destinations, such as reserved books, books for the branches and so on. By
comparison with the Dutch system, this is said to feel dated already.
This chapter has highlighted the role of the legislation, rules, regulations and so on that define
the minimum standards and desirable qualities of a large, new public building. Dovetailing into
this process must be the active consideration and promotion of the concept of sustainability –
erecting and running a building that is open to all, that can be used without health hazards, that
does not damage the natural environment, and that uses natural features to the benefit of the
building and its community.
The openness and inclusiveness of this concept contrasts with the need for preservation
management and for prevention of disasters, major or minor. Early planning is essential for the
security of staff, users and library stock, as well as the structure. If disasters do occur, whatever
their scale, strategies need to have been built into management practice. Balancing openness with
security will be greatly assisted by use of some of the sophisticated handling systems now
available: again the implications of such items must be considered very early in the planning
process.