Safety and Security in Libraries: Home

Resources for libraries on addressing policies, education, and training on gun violence.

Putting a plan in place before a disaster strikes, and what to do when disaster does strike.

When developing policies, each library needs to consider the community that it serves.

ACRL and LLAMA have joined forces to provide a basic framework for architects, planners, and librarians embarking on the planning and design of libraries for higher education.

March 20, 2013

May 8, 2014

This webinar will provide the knowledge and skills necessary to manage threatening situations in the library. Discussion will address theoretical concepts, behavior policies, working with local law enforcement both in and out of the library, library banning policies, staff communication tools, and assessment for dangerous behavior. Strategies for avoiding threatening behaviors will be reviewed.

On June 12, 2014, ALA Editions offered a workshop with Dr. Steve Albrecht, which lasted 90 minutes.

ALA Editions offered a workshop with Warren Graham on June 6, 2012 that lasted 90 minutes.

These guidelines identify important issues that collection administrators should address in developing adequate security measures and a strategy for responding to thefts. While directed primarily toward special collections in the U.S., many topics are also applicable to general collections and to special collections in other countries.

Libraries are faced with problems of user behavior that must be addressed to ensure the effective delivery of service and full access to facilities. Library governing bodies should approach the regulation of user behavior within the framework of the ALA Code of Ethics, the Library Bill of Rights and the law, including local and state statutes, constitutional standards under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, due process and equal and equitable treatment under the law.

Libris DESIGN was a library facility planning information system and downloadable database that was developed for California Public Library planners in 2005. Most helpful for library building purposes was the Libris Design Planning Documentation (via Archive.org), retrieved here via the Internet Archive, which was a set of reports, as DOC and PDF files, covering various interior and exterior library building topics and issues.

While these “Guidelines” incorporate or recommend industry standards and note best practices, the document does not attempt to establish standards and in no way implies that libraries that do not or cannot adopt the recommendations are in any way negligent.

These guidelines will allow librarians and curators to better assess their map collections, prepare security proposals for their administrations, and provide a more secure environment for their map collections.

Interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 amending the U.S. copyright law was Section 512, “limitation on liability relating to material online.” This provision protects online service providers (OSPs) from liability for third party infringement. This means that an online service provider will not be held responsible for the alleged infringements of users of their networks.

Books on disaster planning, disaster and emergency preparedness, disaster response, and disaster management and recovery; books on library safety; books on archives and library security.