Library Security by Steve Albrecht

Author:Steve Albrecht [Albrecht, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LAN025000 Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General
ISBN: 9780838913550
Publisher: American Library Association
Published: 2015-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

The Great Debate: Are Security Guards Needed in the Library?

As a good consultant, whenever I don’t know the answer to a question, which happens more than I will admit, I always say, “It depends.” As for the question of the need for uniformed security guards or, as I have seen in some library locations, on-duty police officers or sheriff’s deputies, working overtime, the answer is a well-qualified “It depends.”

In my Perfect Library World, where money is not a factor and I am given a choice between having one or more security guards on the property, I would say yes most every time. But even this scenario has its limitations. The quality of the chosen security company and the training, vigilance, and excellent customer service skills required for its guards are no small matter. As celebrity security expert Gavin de Becker has so aptly put it, “When it comes to certain security officers, sometimes we are protected by people we should be protected from.” He says this with no malice in his heart but only from the proof that comes from the reality that is the private security world.

The disconnect between the security guard supplier and the security guard customer is often a wide one. The client wants a former US Navy SEAL, with weapons skills, combat first-aid training, and a steely eye. The security company says it can certainly supply said officer, which ends up meaning you may get a guy, in some states, who was working at a gas station last week. The big culprit here is pay. It’s not that the security salespeople lie because they want to; they lie because they have to. Most security companies “keystone” the pay for their guards, meaning they charge the client $20 per security officer hour and pay the guard $10 per hour. Some guard companies provide much better pay, usually when they are staffed by off-duty police who work on the side; the client pays $70 to $100 per security officer hour and the cops get $35 to $50 per hour. The higher wage is warranted because of their training and because they can work armed.

Back in the real world at the library, we see much less tactical knowledge and professionalism if the guard of choice is not currently a cop picking up some extra cash. And maybe those skills aren’t necessary if the library director and the guard company can collaborate on a realistic, balanced set of posted orders for the guards on duty to follow and pass down to the next shift. As the client, you have the right to ask whether (and to expect) the security company you choose is licensed in your state (request a copy of the license), insured (request from the company’s insurance broker valid copies of its insurance certificate), and compliant with any state-mandated training required for the licensure of its guards. At a minimum, guards should have powers-of-arrest training as well as CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), AED (automated external defibrillator), and first-aid training.

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