The Love Library’s administrative staff has found alternative ways to ensure a safe environment for students to study. However, the resources required to periodically staff and patrol every area of the library frequented by students has been an increasingly difficult task.
In a building as large and densely populated as the Love Library, monitoring activity and deterring crime is a difficult task because the resources required to do so simply aren’t available.
“A year ago, if you walked into the dome, you were greeted by a lot of people sleeping. We have a lot of comfortable furniture,” interim head of Access and Licensing Services in the Love Library, Sara Baird, said. “This was due to an initiative to make the library more comfortable. We did too good of a job.”
The library administration decided this was not the atmosphere of its ideal library, so walls were repainted brighter colors, couches were replaced by chairs and tables and curtains were removed to let in light through open windows. These changes have been made to create a more vibrant atmosphere, hopefully encouraging students to be more alert and aware of their surroundings.
The San Diego State Police Department recommended other cost-friendly ways to discourage criminal activity. Most ideas were based around simply creating open space. Turning study carrels to face away from the walls, rearranging furniture and installing convex mirrors can eliminate blind spots, making security patrolling easier and more effective.
Maureen Dotson, facilities coordinator of Love Library, said she is searching for artwork that will help deter criminal activity.
“I’m looking for pictures of animals, Aztec boosters, any faces. Anything with eyes is said to be effective,” Dotson said. The feeling of being watched can make criminals feel uncomfortable at an unconscious level.
A committee was recently formed, dedicating itself to creating new security measures in the Love Library. Lately, the security committee has been working on a code of conduct, which is designed primarily for the benefit of its security guards.
The Love Library contracts its security through a private company called Elite Services USA. The majority of Elite’s jobs are at events such as concerts and sports games. Its job at the library is a unique one, and Dean of Library and Information Access Gale Etschmaier has a specific idea of what its job should entail.
“We want the guards to be more of ambassadors, educating students on ways to protect their belongings,” Etschmaier said.
Because of this role she wants the security guards to abide by, the yet-to-be-released code of conduct will provide explicit instructions about how to handle certain situations with students and community members. Because of this, a lot of extra training will most likely be required for the guards.
For instance, the code of conduct will instruct how to differentiate between a person who has no affiliation with SDSU who comes into the library to sleep, and a student who uses the library as a place to nap between classes. Although the library has open access during most hours, one change that has surprised some students is that there are periods when entry is restricted to those without a Red ID.
