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Dear All,

Many thanks to those of you who contacted me about your entry and exit security arrangements.  To summarise the responses:

•	Completely open entry and exit was rare with only two institutions reporting they had nothing to stop people entering or exiting.  This appeared to be smaller site or subject libraries, in one case the libraries were within larger buildings which did have access control at the entrance.  Another library closed their turnstiles at 9pm but had free entry and exit during the day.
•	One library had no access control on the way in but did had a simple one way gate to stop people exiting through the entry gates.  Others, had access control on the way in but no exit barriers.  Everyone was using some kind of security alarm gate. 
•	Where there was no access control, the ability to gather meaningful statistics on visitors and other external users was generally lost and people either relied on anecdotal evidence or do not attempt to collect these statistics.  General foot fall statistics were usually a feature of the security gates so these could still be counted.
•	To manage exit security many libraries had some kind of locking barrier.  For the ones that didn’t the exit gates were near a staffed desk that managed exit alarms.  Only one library reported plans to have unmanned exits in the future.  They suggested they would investigate locking barriers to deter theft and would also have the areas covered by CCTV.

I’m still interested to hear from others about their experiences of working without barriers but I hope that this is a useful summery for the community.

Kind regards,

Simon Hall


Simon Hall
Library Development Manager (Student Services)
University of Roehampton | London | SW15 5SZ