I finally had a chance to visit the newly rededicated library and I love it. However, the one thing I found to be much more than just a minor annoyance was the overly draconian "mandatory registration" to enter the AV section.
I just needed to get some audiobooks for a weekend trip to Philadelphia and I had to spend time checking in. Then I had to spend more time waiting for them to look up my name to find my card when i wanted to check out.
I mean we're talking about a public library here, not a fine jewelry store. Why not just stick armed cops at the entrance to make it even that much more welcoming?
What if I forget my card but I want to stop in? I have friends coming to visit in a few weeks and I thought it would be fun to get a few movies from the library, but I guess I can't do that now because they don't have a valid Lakewood Library card, and why should they?
This could be quite possibly one of the worst LPL moves IMHO.
Library AV Registration Process?
Moderator: Jim O'Bryan
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Bryan Schwegler
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:23 pm
- Location: Lakewood
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Mary Anne Crampton
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:34 am
Bryan.....do you have any suggestions as to a system that would protect the extensive/expensive and very popular AV collection for use by all residents and minimize the likelihood of materials walking out the door never to be seen again? From my viewpoint, the public library aspect is fulfilled in that the materials can be borrowed at no charge. I'd happily go through the check-in and out hassle if it means the materials will be around for awhile. But maybe the system can be better?
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Bryan Schwegler
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:23 pm
- Location: Lakewood
Having the checkout desk near the door is enough. If need be, add security cameras (don't have to be recording for privacy, but at least with monitors they can watch at the desk). Why not have a librarian walking around the section visible, just helping people find interesting items? How about tagging the items and alarming the A/V doorway?Mary Anne Crampton wrote:Bryan.....do you have any suggestions as to a system that would protect the extensive/expensive and very popular AV collection for use by all residents and minimize the likelihood of materials walking out the door never to be seen again? From my viewpoint, the public library aspect is fulfilled in that the materials can be borrowed at no charge. I'd happily go through the check-in and out hassle if it means the materials will be around for awhile. But maybe the system can be better?
I mean to be honest the excuse "how do we protect our collection" is a poor one. Other libraries don't do this, heck, even stores with much more expensive items don't do this. Lots of places have figured this out without the extreme the LPL has decided to take. They are actually preventing people from using the resource.
How impressive is it that I get to say to my friends in two weeks, "hey, let's go to the library and pick up some movies to watch, oh but you can't come in here....welcome to Lakewood"? What if I'm thinking about moving here so I want to check out the library and its resources with my kids? Ooops, can't go in there.
I mean to me the most annoying part isn't that you need to check-in and out, it's the fact that they've taken the draconian stance that you have to have a Lakewood Library card to do so. I mean Costco doesn't even go that far. Why not let a person have so many guests on their card? Why not take other forms of ID for people who don't live in Lakewood but are just curious?
Maybe they do, but the sign doesn't say so...it's very clear...you're not welcome. Just doesn't present the most open or friendly face for Lakewood.
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Dee Krupp
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:56 am
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Brad Hutchison
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:45 pm
I thought it was weird too, and the couple times I've been there, there was a police officer. It seems like the beeper things should suffice. The registration just seems so inefficient, and a waste of the little papers they print to go with the card.
The arrangement of CDs was odd too. I noticed Andrew Lloyd Webber CDs in 3 different sections, most under L, but one under W.
The arrangement of CDs was odd too. I noticed Andrew Lloyd Webber CDs in 3 different sections, most under L, but one under W.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
-Gandhi
-Gandhi
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Kenneth Warren
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:17 pm
Brad, I do not believe beeper things are going to solve the problem. Boxes have been cut and security strips are removed. When no policeman is there - who's running after the perp and detaining him? And when the beepers go off, for evidently no good reason or when a video cassette properly checked sets off a beeper and staff becomes accustomed to waving the patron through. It's an expensive and ineffective technology. But few people are willing to say it. Like ETS, some want to believe....
Dee, We're currently seeing between 220 - 250 visitors to the AV room each day. Your inquiry on another thread prompted me to write an article for the LO, which I'll tip here.
Anyway, I have attempted to lay out the situation, the method, and the community values at stake, values worth believing in, because these at at the heart of the public library tradition, a community investment in tradition that sometimes veers from "have it your way."
The Director Explains the Need for a Frame Bending Change
The Situation
As the offerings of the public library expanded to audio-visual materials and access to computer technology, the opportunities for criminal and unethical behavior to occur in public space have increased accordingly. Public libraries across the United States are suffering from the diffusion of criminal, indecorous and senselessly unethical behavior that erodes common goals, community interest and voter support, especially in an era of limited resources and economic contraction.
Deterrence and Prevention
The need to raise Lakewood Public Library’s commitment to security and preventive measures that deter theft, criminal and unethical behavior has become increasingly clear over the course of recent years.
A growing population attracted to AV materials and public computer access abuses and disrespects not only the public library culture of open and trusting values but also the public property intended to flow ethically and responsibly to borrowers through efficient low grid access rules. The situation is no longer sustainable.
It’s never a pleasure to impose new rules but with the bad economy, the regionalization of banditry, and the rise of E-Bay sellers fencing public library property, more stringent steps need to taken to reduce the loss of AV materials.
In reviewing security strategies with several off-duty police officers that LPL employs, we hypothesized that increased customer contact and identification in combination with video surveillance and recording are likely to deter theft and aid in materials recovery efforts. After three weeks of actual practice, the hypothesis is proving true.
The card surrender and identification practice is, at the first level, a preventive measure designed though raising the bar for access to stop people who do not play by the rules, who scam, swarm, create diversions and act-out in order to abscond with AV materials from occupying the AV room and thereby boosting public property.
For certain classes of thieves and especially for criminals with outstanding warrants, the insistence on personal contact and positive identification is a game-changer. Rather than be identified in a public site where video surveillance and off-duty police officers are employed, they will leave the premises. With a simple preventive measure, the dysfunctional game of anomie, chaos, crime and disrespect in the public library is now changed considerably - much to the enjoyment and enrichment of the majority.
For anyone seven years or older, then, a library card is now required for admittance to the AV Room.
The reality, rights and responsibilities for respectful action and attention in the public library situation are useful lessons for children over seven to learn.
A Place Committed to Virtue: Aesthetics, Ethics, Community
With a beautiful new building that evokes the classical tradition now open, it is a critical moment in the library’s history to recalibrate rules in a more stringent and virtuous register, one allowing the collective dedication of the population to support the role that aesthetics and ethics must play in a public space dedicated to culture, inquiry, knowledge and reading.
As easy as it might be to let things slide along the open and trusting way, the investment, the resources and the total public library situation in Lakewood must be managed better through an increased commitment to more stringent rules and an engaged and positive customer service demeanor.
LPL Staff, Customer Service and the Call to Virtue
LPL staff must organize, align with the call to virtue in the community place of the library and adapt positively to an attentive and dynamic process that educates and serves citizens, while protecting the institution and public property from criminal and unethical behavior.
LPL staff must generate from their own reservoir of virtue an enthusiastic commitment to beauty and ethics, a commitment exemplified in our new space, in order to enforce rules consistently and fairly without diminishing the courteous treatment people expect.
It’s everyone’s duty. And the challenge requires everyone’s commitment – staff and public alike.
It’s a complex challenge born from a frame bending change.
Now is the time.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
Dee, We're currently seeing between 220 - 250 visitors to the AV room each day. Your inquiry on another thread prompted me to write an article for the LO, which I'll tip here.
Anyway, I have attempted to lay out the situation, the method, and the community values at stake, values worth believing in, because these at at the heart of the public library tradition, a community investment in tradition that sometimes veers from "have it your way."
The Director Explains the Need for a Frame Bending Change
The Situation
As the offerings of the public library expanded to audio-visual materials and access to computer technology, the opportunities for criminal and unethical behavior to occur in public space have increased accordingly. Public libraries across the United States are suffering from the diffusion of criminal, indecorous and senselessly unethical behavior that erodes common goals, community interest and voter support, especially in an era of limited resources and economic contraction.
Deterrence and Prevention
The need to raise Lakewood Public Library’s commitment to security and preventive measures that deter theft, criminal and unethical behavior has become increasingly clear over the course of recent years.
A growing population attracted to AV materials and public computer access abuses and disrespects not only the public library culture of open and trusting values but also the public property intended to flow ethically and responsibly to borrowers through efficient low grid access rules. The situation is no longer sustainable.
It’s never a pleasure to impose new rules but with the bad economy, the regionalization of banditry, and the rise of E-Bay sellers fencing public library property, more stringent steps need to taken to reduce the loss of AV materials.
In reviewing security strategies with several off-duty police officers that LPL employs, we hypothesized that increased customer contact and identification in combination with video surveillance and recording are likely to deter theft and aid in materials recovery efforts. After three weeks of actual practice, the hypothesis is proving true.
The card surrender and identification practice is, at the first level, a preventive measure designed though raising the bar for access to stop people who do not play by the rules, who scam, swarm, create diversions and act-out in order to abscond with AV materials from occupying the AV room and thereby boosting public property.
For certain classes of thieves and especially for criminals with outstanding warrants, the insistence on personal contact and positive identification is a game-changer. Rather than be identified in a public site where video surveillance and off-duty police officers are employed, they will leave the premises. With a simple preventive measure, the dysfunctional game of anomie, chaos, crime and disrespect in the public library is now changed considerably - much to the enjoyment and enrichment of the majority.
For anyone seven years or older, then, a library card is now required for admittance to the AV Room.
The reality, rights and responsibilities for respectful action and attention in the public library situation are useful lessons for children over seven to learn.
A Place Committed to Virtue: Aesthetics, Ethics, Community
With a beautiful new building that evokes the classical tradition now open, it is a critical moment in the library’s history to recalibrate rules in a more stringent and virtuous register, one allowing the collective dedication of the population to support the role that aesthetics and ethics must play in a public space dedicated to culture, inquiry, knowledge and reading.
As easy as it might be to let things slide along the open and trusting way, the investment, the resources and the total public library situation in Lakewood must be managed better through an increased commitment to more stringent rules and an engaged and positive customer service demeanor.
LPL Staff, Customer Service and the Call to Virtue
LPL staff must organize, align with the call to virtue in the community place of the library and adapt positively to an attentive and dynamic process that educates and serves citizens, while protecting the institution and public property from criminal and unethical behavior.
LPL staff must generate from their own reservoir of virtue an enthusiastic commitment to beauty and ethics, a commitment exemplified in our new space, in order to enforce rules consistently and fairly without diminishing the courteous treatment people expect.
It’s everyone’s duty. And the challenge requires everyone’s commitment – staff and public alike.
It’s a complex challenge born from a frame bending change.
Now is the time.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
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Brad Hutchison
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:45 pm
Ken, if that's what it takes to protect the collection, that's fine. I was just startled to see a police officer roaming a library.
The organization of the AV collection, CDs in particular, did really confuse me though, and there's no searchable database available in the AV room (at least not available to the general public). I don't know, maybe it's just me.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to gripe. It's Schwegler's fault, he started this.
I think all involved have really done a great job. I dragged my wife into the library last weekend because she hadn't been there yet. I was showing her around like I had just bought the place. 
The organization of the AV collection, CDs in particular, did really confuse me though, and there's no searchable database available in the AV room (at least not available to the general public). I don't know, maybe it's just me.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to gripe. It's Schwegler's fault, he started this.
I think all involved have really done a great job. I dragged my wife into the library last weekend because she hadn't been there yet. I was showing her around like I had just bought the place. Be the change you want to see in the world.
-Gandhi
-Gandhi
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Kenneth Warren
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:17 pm
Brad:
Thank you for your generous consideration of my points. Discussion is always constructive and helpful to me, especially in instances when our points diverge and we can still respect the experience and thought process presented by one another as citizens and in my case as a public administrator.
I know you are joking about Bryan, who is a very savvy and sensitive public library connoisseur, whose feedback I take very seriously.
You make two good points, though, about the organization of the CDs, because there are some classified across genres, which need to be corrected. We are expecting to receive additional signage and locators to allow for more precise locations in the flip-thru CD bins. And you point about lack of a searchable catalog in the room is a sound one, given the library card/identification imposition, and the suggestion is something I will consider further during the post-occupancy assessment.
Finally, off-duty Lakewood Police Officers were “roaming†Main Library long before I arrived in 1984.
In the early 90s, around the time of Vincent Drost murder, there was in influx from Cleveland of drug-dealing gang members, seeking to evade police pressure on the other side of border, into the library. It was a shock, then, a game changer for me and the maintenance staff monitors who were threatened with violence. At that point I believed conditions were serious enough that it was time to go with the pros and I sought the professional service of off-duty Lakewood Police officers. The decision to employ off-duty Lakewood Police officers to protect our library, public and staff was not one I took lightly, and as I reflect on the ten best decisions I’ve made in the course of my career I believe it’s one of my best.
Again, thank you and everybody for helping to "buy the place."
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
Thank you for your generous consideration of my points. Discussion is always constructive and helpful to me, especially in instances when our points diverge and we can still respect the experience and thought process presented by one another as citizens and in my case as a public administrator.
I know you are joking about Bryan, who is a very savvy and sensitive public library connoisseur, whose feedback I take very seriously.
You make two good points, though, about the organization of the CDs, because there are some classified across genres, which need to be corrected. We are expecting to receive additional signage and locators to allow for more precise locations in the flip-thru CD bins. And you point about lack of a searchable catalog in the room is a sound one, given the library card/identification imposition, and the suggestion is something I will consider further during the post-occupancy assessment.
Finally, off-duty Lakewood Police Officers were “roaming†Main Library long before I arrived in 1984.
In the early 90s, around the time of Vincent Drost murder, there was in influx from Cleveland of drug-dealing gang members, seeking to evade police pressure on the other side of border, into the library. It was a shock, then, a game changer for me and the maintenance staff monitors who were threatened with violence. At that point I believed conditions were serious enough that it was time to go with the pros and I sought the professional service of off-duty Lakewood Police officers. The decision to employ off-duty Lakewood Police officers to protect our library, public and staff was not one I took lightly, and as I reflect on the ten best decisions I’ve made in the course of my career I believe it’s one of my best.
Again, thank you and everybody for helping to "buy the place."
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
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Brad Hutchison
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:45 pm
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Joe Ott
- Posts: 216
- Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:59 am
- Location: Lakewood
FWIW, I don't have a problem handing over my card. In fact the first time I went up there, one of my children and I went, one of us didn't have our card and didn't know it was needed. No big deal, one of us just waited outside.
The next time we went, we both had our cards. It's not like we drove 50 miles to get there.
I do agree with Brad. Trying to find CD's can be challenging. And more often than not, they have been scratched to the point were the CD is not usable. At least all the old rock stuff I check out from time to time. I suspect they pass through a lot of hands and take a lot of abuse.
I recently took out Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Deja Vu and it's not entirely playable. No big deal. When I return it I'll let them know. Do they take it out of rotation then?
I never use the public PC's but if I did, I wouldn't be bothered by VNC either (you should look into Radmin). I'm in a public place using public equipment, how can I expect a high degree of privacy?
Ken, Jeff, and the entire staff should be applauded for the fantastic job they do.
The library is one of the few remaining places in lkwd that are fun, safe, and clean (that's not my line). Keep it that way.
The next time we went, we both had our cards. It's not like we drove 50 miles to get there.
I do agree with Brad. Trying to find CD's can be challenging. And more often than not, they have been scratched to the point were the CD is not usable. At least all the old rock stuff I check out from time to time. I suspect they pass through a lot of hands and take a lot of abuse.
I recently took out Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Deja Vu and it's not entirely playable. No big deal. When I return it I'll let them know. Do they take it out of rotation then?
I never use the public PC's but if I did, I wouldn't be bothered by VNC either (you should look into Radmin). I'm in a public place using public equipment, how can I expect a high degree of privacy?
Ken, Jeff, and the entire staff should be applauded for the fantastic job they do.
The library is one of the few remaining places in lkwd that are fun, safe, and clean (that's not my line). Keep it that way.
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Bryan Schwegler
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:23 pm
- Location: Lakewood
Ken what about the two situations I bring up:
- I want to bring a visitor from out of town with me into the library AV section. I can't.
- Someone who is thinking of moving to Lakewood wants to see what the library has to offer. They can't.
While I get the general idea, I think you've taken a rather strict, draconian approach.
In both the situations above, Lakewood is effectively slamming the door in an outsiders face. Are there any plans to loosen the rules just a bit to make them more flexible or are the people in the above situations just not good enough for Lakewood?
I just find it odd that retailers and other libraries have figured out how to deal with this in a much less intrusive manner, but Lakewood seems unable to do so.
- I want to bring a visitor from out of town with me into the library AV section. I can't.
- Someone who is thinking of moving to Lakewood wants to see what the library has to offer. They can't.
While I get the general idea, I think you've taken a rather strict, draconian approach.
In both the situations above, Lakewood is effectively slamming the door in an outsiders face. Are there any plans to loosen the rules just a bit to make them more flexible or are the people in the above situations just not good enough for Lakewood?
I just find it odd that retailers and other libraries have figured out how to deal with this in a much less intrusive manner, but Lakewood seems unable to do so.
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Kenneth Warren
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:17 pm
Bryan:
Any resident of the state of Ohio may obtain a Lakewood Public Library card. Visitors from out of state may purchase a library card for one day at $5, one month at $10 or one year at $100.
We actually experimented briefly with a guest pass, which created a rather large sieve and in effect destroyed the integrity of the preventive process. A review of the list indicated that in one day 18 guest passes issued; 6 were to patrons with blocked library cards.
I don’t believe other libraries have in fact “figured out how to deal with this in a much less intrusive manner.†Retailers don't broadcast how ineffective their security measures really are. Nor do libraries, generally. I would not broadcast a problem without a solution.
Like many innovations in public library practice, LPL is ahead of the curve. From the way we organized the Technology Center in 1993 – in an open arrangement that permits observation of activity to the way our new approach to AV materials access, to the Libranium and relationship with the Lakewood Observer and LO Deck, LPL leads; others follow.
Public libraries can either placate a bleeding situation with hemorrhaging AV losses, or apply some intrusive and preventive pressure at the point of entry.
Again, it’s a real and problematic situation that demands a solution – a how and a now - not an easy one, not an open and trusting one, but an intrusive one that stops the bleeding.
Nobody takes pleasure in declaring the open and trusting values of the public library tradition are violated with increasing frequency across the United States. While we have good order in Lakewood Public Library, we have an investment and tradition that must be preserved through the intelligent calibration of rules for access.
Take a look at Hartford:
http://tinyurl.com/5eh9pe
Thank you again for your input.
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
Any resident of the state of Ohio may obtain a Lakewood Public Library card. Visitors from out of state may purchase a library card for one day at $5, one month at $10 or one year at $100.
We actually experimented briefly with a guest pass, which created a rather large sieve and in effect destroyed the integrity of the preventive process. A review of the list indicated that in one day 18 guest passes issued; 6 were to patrons with blocked library cards.
I don’t believe other libraries have in fact “figured out how to deal with this in a much less intrusive manner.†Retailers don't broadcast how ineffective their security measures really are. Nor do libraries, generally. I would not broadcast a problem without a solution.
Like many innovations in public library practice, LPL is ahead of the curve. From the way we organized the Technology Center in 1993 – in an open arrangement that permits observation of activity to the way our new approach to AV materials access, to the Libranium and relationship with the Lakewood Observer and LO Deck, LPL leads; others follow.
Public libraries can either placate a bleeding situation with hemorrhaging AV losses, or apply some intrusive and preventive pressure at the point of entry.
Again, it’s a real and problematic situation that demands a solution – a how and a now - not an easy one, not an open and trusting one, but an intrusive one that stops the bleeding.
Nobody takes pleasure in declaring the open and trusting values of the public library tradition are violated with increasing frequency across the United States. While we have good order in Lakewood Public Library, we have an investment and tradition that must be preserved through the intelligent calibration of rules for access.
Take a look at Hartford:
http://tinyurl.com/5eh9pe
Thank you again for your input.
Kenneth Warren
Director
Lakewood Public Library
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Bryan Schwegler
- Posts: 963
- Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:23 pm
- Location: Lakewood
Ken,
I appreciate your POV on this issue. However I still strongly disagree.
I can't in good conscience agree with a policy that espouses erecting barriers and barring people from accessing what should be a free, public collection paid for with public money.
IMHO, this approach is not ahead of the curve, it's definitely behind the curve. It's unfriendly and unwelcoming.
In the end, you will do what you're going to do based on your judgement. I just hope you eventually will re-evaluate the impact of what you've put in place with this process to determine if the benefits are truly worth the costs and perceptions it creates.
I appreciate your POV on this issue. However I still strongly disagree.
I can't in good conscience agree with a policy that espouses erecting barriers and barring people from accessing what should be a free, public collection paid for with public money.
IMHO, this approach is not ahead of the curve, it's definitely behind the curve. It's unfriendly and unwelcoming.
In the end, you will do what you're going to do based on your judgement. I just hope you eventually will re-evaluate the impact of what you've put in place with this process to determine if the benefits are truly worth the costs and perceptions it creates.
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Tim Liston
- Posts: 752
- Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 3:10 pm
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chris richards
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:05 pm
- Location: Lakewood
I don't think this policy would actually deter theft. Especially if the staff in the A/V room is busy sifting through cards to return to patrons and checking others in. Seems like more of a distraction and an opportunity for clever "librarylifters" to take.Tim Liston wrote:I think that what Ken is trying to say, politely and with big words, is that if we don't put up really stringent safeguards, the A/V stuff will get stolen in a heartbeat.
With all the money spent on an architecture brand name building, you'd think, while not completely effective, that theft detection devices could have fit in that budget. A set at each entrance to the building and a set at each entrance to the A/V room since it's compartmentalized like the rest of the building.
There were such detectors at the entrances of the library prior to the addition, but from what I understand, they were not being used. And since Westlake Porter was mention in another thread, I can say that they have them, without having to retain patrons' cards to look at the AV collection. They also have several self check out stations.
Come to think about it... every other library I have visited has detection devices at the entrances to their buildings and none of them require handing over of a patron's card for access to materials.