1979-09-20 City of Beverly, Massachusetts
Public Meeting Minutes
Board: Library Trustees
Subcommittee:
Date: 09/20/1979
Place: Beverly Public Library
Board members present: Neil B. Olson, Lester C. Ayers, Mary K. Connors, Katherine L.
Fanning, Dr. Edna M. MeGlynn, Emily P. Moreney, and Beatrice R. Viiale
Board members absent: John R. Coogan, and Oleg M. Pohotsky
Others present:
Recorder:
Regular Meeting
Board of Trustees
Beverly Public Library
Thursday, September 20, 1979 8 P.M.
Presiding: Neil Olson, Chairman
Present: Mr. Ayers, Miss Connors, Mrs. Fanning, Dr. MeGlynn, Mrs. Morency and Mrs. Vitale.
Motion made by Mrs. Vitale and seconded by Mrs. Fanning to accept minutes of the regular meeting
of June 21, 1979 as presented.
Mr. Olson thanked Board for the excellent job done this past year.
Head Librarian distributed: Report of Income and Expenditures July 1, 1978 - June 30, 1979 of
Beverly Public Library Trust Funds; Financial statement for July 1978 - June 1979; copy of Minutes
of Regular Meeting of Board of Trustees held June 21, 1979; Security Systems Report; and
Circulation reports for June, July and August 1979. Discussion followed concerning the 1978/79FY
financial reports. Unexpended balances for that FY turned back to the City were: Salaries $11,215.14,
Maintenance $3,241.71. Request has been made that following be carried over into 1979/80FY: from
Fuel - $801.56, from Lighting - $1,435.34; and $1,500 of that amount be transferred to Fuel, and
$736.90 to Lighting for 1979/80 FY.
Committee Reports:
Administration Committee - On July 26, 1979 Mrs. Calish, Miss Connors, Mrs. Fanning, and Mrs.
Vitale visited the following libraries to inspect their Security (or Theft Detection) systems: Reading,
Wilmington, Buffington, Newton and Brookline.
Motion made by Mr. Ayers that
Security Systems report be accepted. Seconded by Dr. MeGlynn.
Action on this Security Systems report was deferred until the October meeting. (Report appended
in Trustees' minutes book).
Personnel Committee - Personnel Committee met on September 15, 1979 with Head Librarian to
review list of candidates for the position of Assistant Director and set up dates for interviews. Head
Librarian has set up following tentative dates for the interviews of the candidates - each one to be
interviewed separately on a different date - October 5, 6 and 13.
New Business:
Head Librarian distributed Goals and Objectives for 1979/80 FY. Discussion followed. Motion made
and seconded to accept Librarian's report on the Goals and Objectives for 1979/80 FY.
Head Librarian reported that request has been made by patrons for a rental system (best sellers) or
collection, and stated that this would have to be handled by the Friends of the Library. Mr. Olson
requested that Head Librarian prepare more details and present it at the next meeting.
Mr. Tom Scully, Director of the Peabody Library, was introduced by Head Librarian. He made a
report on the computer grant (to automate our acquisitions and circulation departments) given to
Peabody which would allow Beverly, Danvers, Lynnfield and Wakefield to tie into Peabody's system.
Discussion and question and answer period followed. Trustees were invited to see a demonstration
of the computer, which had been set up in the Asst. Director's office, at the completion of the
meeting. Mr. Peter Young, Library systems analyst for CLSI, manufacturers of the system, gave a
demonstration.
Mr. Olson took poll of each Trustee in regard to security system and computer system and all present,
except Mrs. Morency, felt that security system should be pursued further. Mrs. Fanning abstained on
computer system because she felt she did not know enough about it.
For the many years of high professional activities at Beverly Public Library and for duties beyond
those prescribed in your job description, especially coordinating those periods of responsibility
between directors, the trustees of the Beverly Public Library would like to go on record as
acknowledging and congratulating Eleanor Scully for her contribution to the library and citizenry of
Beve~y. For a job well done, a very special thank you.
Mrs. Vitale brought up matter of holding a Trustees' meeting at the Farms library. It was suggested
that November meeting be held there on the third Tuesday, November 20, 1979. To be discussed
further at next meeting.
Motion made by Mrs. Vitale and seconded by Mrs. Fanning to adjourn.
Adjourned: 9:25 P.M.
Esther Calish
Clerk
BEVERLY PUBLIC LIBRARY
GOALS OF SERVICE AND POLICIES
FOR THE SELECTION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
SERVICE GOALS:
The Beverly Public Library is dedicated to the concept of providing the best possible library service
for the citizens of Beverly, responding to the nature and needs of the community. In order to meet
the educational,, informational, cultural, and recreational needs of the community, the library will
-embrace the responsibility to identify and provide print and non-print materials and programs
relevant to these community needs and desires, within the capabilities of the library;
-actively undertake to acquaint the community with knowledge and awareness of the
availability, uses, and pertinenee of such materials and programs-,
-expand the horizons of library service, in the introduction of materials and their use, and in
reaching out to users and non-users, both on and off the library premises;
-promote and encourage use of the library and its facilities by maintaining an attractive and
welcoming climate; by organizing and arranging the collection in the most accessible manner
possible; by employing adequately trained staff members to facilitate and prope~y interpret
the library's resources for the user;
-extend the scope of its services by participating in state and regional networks, and in
reciprocal borrowing;
-make an active contribution to the community by recognizing the importance of community
organizations in the fabric of community life and by serving as a conduit of community
information; by providing expertise and materials to assist such organizations; by providing
meeting space where room is available, provided such meetings are open to the public;
-encourage advice, suggestions, and evaluations from the community.
POLICIES FOR SELECTION OF MATERIALS AND MAINTENANCE OF COLLECTION:
The Beverly Public Library endorses the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom To Read statements
of the American Library Association as herein appended. In essence, these statements endorse
freedom of access to information and literary materials, with limits set only by budgetary restraints
and the criteria of book selection as follows:
1. Contemporary significance or current usefulness or interest
2. Authority and competence of presentation
3. Importance as an historical record or of permanent value
4. Relevance to existing collection
5. Requests from users of the library (However, textbooks will not be purchased per se, and
will be included in the collection only if this is the only source of information on a topic of
general interest.)
6. Physical quality of format and binding
7. Presentation of all views on controversial issues
8. Balance of special group interest with general demand
9. Cost in relation to the individual title and to the overall collection
10. Selection of materials for the adult collection on the basis of adult needs(Selection will
not be restricted by the possibility that children may obtain material their parents consider
inappropriate.)
11. Selection of materials on the basis of recommendations of accepted established review
sources such as Library Journal, Publishers' Weekly, N.Y. Times, Wilson's Bulletin, Kirkus,
Saturday Review, etc.
12. Weeding and discarding of the collection on a systematic basis (This function is
necessitated by limitations of space, obsolescence of materials, lack of use over an extended
period of time, physical condition of the book stock, and acquisition of new materials. The
same criteria applied to the purchase of new books will be applied to the discarding and
weeding of books.)
13. Requests from. patrons to withdraw materials from the collection to be made in writing
and to be evaluated within the context of the Freedom to Read statement and Library Bill of
Rights.
14. Priority of the collection of the Main Library in the acquisition of materials (Exceptions
nay be made for materials especially suited for the Farms Branch Library or Bookmobile.)
BOOK SELECTION POLICY
CHILDREN' S/YOUNG ADULT COLLECTIONS:
Responsibility for the reading of children rests with their parents. Since the scope of the collection
in the Youth Services area (including the Young Adult area and the Children's Room) ranges from
preschool through junior high, parents are advised to particularly note the suitability of books for each
child.
Materials will be chosen for children on the basis of recommendations by recognized authorities in
the field of Children's Literature; specific review sources such as The Bulletin of the Center for
Children's Books, School Library Journal, Horn Book, etc. The materials will attempt to satisfy the
child's natural curiosity, stimulate the imagination, and widen the child's horizons and interests. The
library will provide supplementary materials which enrich the resources available to children, but no
materials which are strictly curriculum-related, and belong within the province of the schools. Specific
requests for books and other materials by -children and adults will be honored when the requested
item will add to the strength of the collection, and when the budget permits. The same criteria of
service and selection stated in the library's sendee goals apply to children and young adults.
Due to extreme space limitations, it is necessary to weed vigorously and remove books which do not
circulate with a modicum of frequency.
GIFTS:
The library appreciates gifts and accepts them with the following provisos:
-that the same criteria apply to the incorporation of gifts into the collection as the selection
of books and other library materials
-the library reserves the right to administer gifts with a view to the best interests of the library
-the library will not become a depository or custodian for materials of great monetary value
or historical value.
EXHIBITS:
The library encourages displays and exhibits, and will observe the saw precautions as applied to
library materials, but assumes no responsibility for restitution in case of damage or theft.
RESPONSIBILITY:
These policies for library service and selection of materials have been formulated by the Board of
Trustees of the Beverly Public Library. The Board delegates the Director to act as its agent in the
administration and implementation of said policies.
The Council of the American Library Association reaffirms its belief in the following basic policies
which should govern the services of all libraries.
1. As a responsibility of library service, books and other library materials selected should be
chosen for values of interest, information and enlightenment of all the people of the community. In
no case should library materials be excluded because of the race or nationality or the social, political,
or religious views of the authors.
2. Libraries should provide books and other materials presenting all points of view concerning
the problems and issues of our times; no library materials should be proscribed or removed from
libraries because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
3. Censorship should be challenged by libraries in the maintenance of their responsibility to
provide public information and enlightenment.
4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment
of free expression and free access to ideas.
5. The rights of an individual to the use of a library should not be denied or abridged because
of his age, race, religion, national. origins or social or political views.
6. As an institution of education for democratic living, the library should welcome the use of
Its meeting rooms for socially useful and cultural activities and discussion of current public questions.
Such meeting places should be available on equal terms to all groups in the community regardless of
the beliefs and affiliations of their members, provided that the meetings be open to the public.
Adopted June 18, 1948,
Amended February 2, 1961, and June 27, 1967, by the ALA Council.
THE FREEDOM TO READ
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private
groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove books from sale,
to censor textbooks, to label "controversial"books, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or
authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition
of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to avoid the
subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as citizens devoted to the use of books and
as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating them, wish to assert the public interest in
the preservation of the freedom to read.
We are deeply concerned about these attempts at suppression. Most such attempts rest on a
denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary citizen, by exercising his critical
judgment, will accept the good and reject- the bad. The censors, public and private, assume that they
should determine what is good and what is bad for their fellow-citizens.
We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to reject it. We do not believe they need
the help of censors to assist them in this task. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their
heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We
believe they still favor flee enterprise in ideas and expression.
We are aware, of course, that books are not alone in being subjected to efforts at suppression.
We are aware that these efforts are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against
education, the press, films, radio, and television. The problem is not only one of actual censorship,
The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment
of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of uneasy change and pervading
fear. Especially when so many of our apprehensions are directed against an ideology, the expression
of a dissident idea becomes a thing feared in itself, and we tend to move against it as against a hostile
deed, with suppression.
And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of Social tension. Freedom
has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and
creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every
enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the
less able to deal with stress..
Now as always in our history, books are among our greatest instruments of freedom. They
are almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can
initially command only a small audience. They are the natural medium for the new idea and the untried
voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. They are essential to the extended
discussion which serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into
organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a
creative culture. We believe' that these pressures towards conformity present the danger of limiting
the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We
believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate,
in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a
profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers
to choose freely from a variety of offerings.
The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in flee men will stand
firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential fights and will exercise the responsibilities that
accompany these rights.
We therefore affirm these propositions:
1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity
of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the
majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every
new thought is a rebel until his idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to
maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept which challenges the
established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly
strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions
offered freely to. them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the
democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting
can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know
not only what we believe but why we believe it
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation
contained in the books they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them
to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what
books should be published or circulated.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available
knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They
do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own 'thought. The people
should have the freedom to read and consider A broader range of ideas than those that may
be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one
man can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability
of a book on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
A book should be judged as a book. No art or literature can flourish if it is to be
measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free men can
flourish which draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to
say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults
to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to
achieve artistic expression.
To some, much of modem literature is shocking. But is not much of life itself
shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff
of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity
of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them
learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be
discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet
prepared. In these matters taste differs, and taste cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be
devised which will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any book the prejudgrnent
of a label characterizing the book or author as subversive or dangerous.
The idea of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom
to detennine by authority what is good or bad for the citizen. It presupposes that each
individual must be directed in making up his mind about the ideas he examines. But
Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to
read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose
their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the
moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those
of another individual or group. In a free society each individual is free to determine for himself
what he wishes to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its
freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and
to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic
society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the
freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity .of thought and
expression. By the exercise of this affinnative responsibility, book men can demonstrate that
the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when expended on the trivial; it is frustrated
when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for his purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of
restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been
thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down,
and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of their freedom and integrity, and the
enlargement of their senrice to society, requires of all book men the utmost of their faculties, and
deserves of all citizens the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a
lofty claim for the value of books. We do so because we believe that they are good, possessed of
enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping, free. We realize that the
application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that
are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what
people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas
can he dangerous: but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself
is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
This statement was originally issued in May 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association
and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers
Institute to become the Association of American Publishers. Adapted June 25, 1953. Revised January 28, 1972, by the
ALA Council.
10/18/79
Report to Trustees on "Rental" or '`pay" collection
'"Rental" of "Pay" collection for bestsellers
-has been requested by a few patrons
- would be financed by Friends
- to make available at time of highest demand extra copies ofbestsellers to people willing to pay
small sum not to have to wait a long time for "reserved" books
- would not diminish number of copies library would ordinarily buy.
Patron could go on both library and pay collection reserve list.
"Pay collection" would be kept on separate bookshelf or book truck.
Money collected by Friends (or for Friends) would go into separate Friends account for
replenishment of in-demand best-seller titles.
When demand ceases books would go into Friends' book sale.
Note: both Newton Free Library and Gloucester's Sayer Free Library report patron satisfaction
and excellent reception to "pay" collection.
SECURITY SYSTEMS REPORT
Administration Committee
Thursday, July 26, 1979 Mary Connors, Kay Fanning, Beatrice Vitale, and Esther Calish spent
the day visiting libraries that had installed security systems.
The libraries visited were:
Reading Public Library
Wilmington Public Library
Burlington Public Library
Newton Public Library
Brookline Public Library
(Since we were in Brookline, we also visited the Coolidge Corner Branch Library.
Although it does not have a security system, we decided to tour it to see the very
attractive lay-out.)
There are two types of operations:
1. By-pass
2. Full-circulating
Glossary
"Targets" target is the word used to describe the material or' device inserted into or
upon a book or other material.
There were two kinds of targets:
The tape strip easily inserted in the spine of the book is a metal strip, which is the
most conceal able. It is very dif cult to identify or remove.
The label is usually put under a book pocket or book plate or reference plate.
Sensitivity - The target "sensitizes" the material to set off the alarm. (Can be a buzzer,
flashing light, chime with or without automatic locking of exit turnstile or gate.
Two type of operations: "By-pass" and "Full-circulating"
Full-circulating system:
Material must be desensitized in order to leave library. Must be passed through desensitizing
mechanism at charge-out desk, before patron goes through exit turnstile.
By-pass system:
Material is never desensitized. Charge-out machine is placed in such a way that patron
must give all sensitized materials to circulation staff person at charge machine. After
charging out material, material is passed behind tumstile. (To exit with sensitized
material patron walks down aisle to charge machine. At~er charge-out, then proceeds
beyond charge machine toward gates or detection equipment.) In other words,
material "by-passes" system in order to exit.
Any attempt to carry through uncharged out materials will set off alarm.
Brand Names:
1. Checkpoint Systems, Inc.
2. Gaylord Brothers
3. Knogo Corp.
4.3M Company - Tattle Tape
5. Sentronic International
All the libraries we visited had either Checkpoint or 3M.
We set aside another day to visit the Sentronic at the University of New Hampshire, but
caneeled because they are so dissatisfied with the system, they are having it removed and replacing
it with 3M - Tattle Tape. Thus, we will concern ourselves with either Checkpoint or 3M models.
We went armed with the following questions and asked many
Questions to ask about various system:
1. Loss rate. Is the loss of library materials sufficiently high to warrant installing a theft detection
system? "Sufficiently high" must be measured both in terms of cost (of the replacement of materials
vs. protection) and of service (how disgruntled are your patrons over lost books? How much time
does your staff spend looking for or replacing lost books?)
2. By-Pass or full-circulation method? Which method of operation do you prefer? In general, the
by-pass method is more suitable in a library situation where most patrons charge out library materials,
leave the library, and generally do not reenter except to return the library materials (e.g., most public
libraries). The full-circulating method is more suitable where most patrons are frequently reentering
and leaving the library with materials previously charged out (e.g., a college library).
3. Cost. What are the costs initially and on a continuing annual basis in terms of per-target cost, labor
to install targets, and maintenance agreements? How do these costs compare with alternative means
of protection, such as guards at exits and students checking briefcases?
4. Durability of the system. How much downtime have users of the system experienced? Are repairs
frequently necessary?
5. Reliability of the manufacturer. Is service readily available? How extensive is the service contract?
Is the company known for its reliability?
6. Ability of patrons to identify targets. Would this factor affect how your patrons treat the system?
If patrons can identify the targets, will they be more apt to attempt to remove them? If not all
materials are protected, will it affect the system if patrons can identify which library materials are
protected and which are not?
7. Damage to library materials. Will the. installation of the targets, or their long-term presence in the
materials cause any harm? Should rare and especially valuable items be targeted?
8.Ability to protect non-book items. Can the system protect non-book items? Does Elie Library want
to protect materials other than bound volumes.
9. False alarms. Some systems are more prone to false alarms than others. Would false alarms provide
an added psychological deterrent, or prove annoyingly troublesome?
10. Ease of operation. Is the system easy to operate? Are additional steps required to check out and
check in books using the full-circulating mode? Can library staff be trained to make minor
adjustments?
11. Ease of target installation. Is target installation a simple procedure? How much time does it take?
12. Electrical and aisle width requirements. Can your library. meet these requirements?
13. Size and physical appearance of detection unit. Does your library have the necessary space for
a system? How important are aesthetics?
14. Zone of detection. What height protection is needed for patrons in your library?
15. Effectiveness. Does the system accurately and consistently detect all protected material? How
easy is it to compromise the system?
Results
Every librarian gave us percentages of the losses before and after the systems were installed.
Each one felt the system was so successful that we decided the need is definite.
The committee will meet again to decide which system, the "by-pass" or the "full-circulating",
will be better suited for this library.
Oct. 1979
Report - Emily P. Morency - concerning Security Systems
1. Food and Drug Administration - '~ureau of Radiological health" - There are no standard for
microwave and radio waves.
2. BEIR Report - BioScience - June 1979 - "BEIR Comes To a Head On Low-level Radiation Risks."
a. Biological effects of low-level ionizing radiation.
b. Increase cancer risk (thyroid and breast)
c. No matter how small a dose, some risk is expected
d. Effects on embryos and fetuses
e. Children and women are especially sensitive
Science - May '79 - '~EIR Report"
A. Edward Radford - U. of Pittsburgh School of Public Health - "recommends public
standards be cut back to a tenth of the present level."
Science News - May 12, '79
"Women can pass on to future generations damage caused by exposure to ionizing radiation."
U.S. News and Wo~d Report - May 14, 1979
%ow level radiation causes 5 % of all cancers."
"No minimum level at which an individual is completely safe."
"May take 30 years for cancer to appear."
3. Library Technology Reports - Nov. 1976 vol. 12, #6
a. Concern by F.D.A. - hazard to pacemakers
b. Tests by Postal, Telephone, and Telegraph Authority of Switzerland.
'~ilectromagnetic radiation transmitted by Stopp-Loss Inc. was 25 times greater than
the level permitted by Swiss Law."
* The U.S. does not have Federal standards that cover electromagnetic radiation in the
amounts transmitted by theft detection systems. Therefore, although all manufacturers utilizing
electromagnetic energy indicate their systems are of no danger to health, no definite study had been
conducted to prove these statements one way or another."
c. Checkpoint - Knogo Corp.
1) Can beat system - put aluminum foil around book.
2) 9 out of 14 surveyed believed patrons could identify the sensitive piece.
3) Complaints - "System was dehumanizing"
Delays at checkout line
System can be beaten
d. Staff confrontations when alarm goes off
e. Tattle-Tape - Only 11 out of 20 surveyed would select system again.
f. By pass method
1) Requires attendant's time
2) Re-check - give books back even if already checked out
g. Full~circulating method - Requires an additional step - desensitizing operation.
h. Other Solutions "human systems rather than electronic system.
1) Exit book detection
2) uniformed guards
3) More functional buildings
4) Better book return systems
5) Stricter law enforcement
6) Better registration
7) Public education programs
8) More alert staff
4) Stacks - National Survey on Library Security - Burns Security Institute
"One of the flagrant violations of good control concerns the secured stack areas. Libraries
have the commendable intention of serving the broadest spectrum of patronage. On the other hand,
making secured stacks available to almost everyone invites trouble and the possible loss of valuable
and irreplaeeable volumes.
When there is general access to an area, it is no longer secured."
5) Wilson Library Bulletin - Dec. 1976
Concerning Tattle Tape System
a. Suffolk, N.Y. - If accuse person of book theft get involved with possible
lawsuits, so they let people leave library even though they triggered alarm.
b. Don't want to create an unpleasant scene if person refuses.
6) Wilson Library Bulletin - June 1978 - other solutions
a. Buy large dish mirrors - supermarkets report excellent results
b. Police inspection - many departments hold seminars on theft prevention - more
recommendations
c. Reduce number of entrances and exits
d. Move desks, furniture, charging stations so patrons entering or leaving will have
to walk past a staff member.
e. Keep entire library ell-lighted
f. Keep staff visible and moving
7) Book Theft and Library Security Systems 1978-79 by Alice Harrison Bahr, Knowledge
Publications, White Plains, N.Y.
a. "Studies indicate that electronic security systems can be effective book theft deterrents, but
alternate programs have also been successful. Evaluation of thet~ control programs is in a state of
flUX."
b. "All electronic security systems can be tompromised in some fashion (The most common
was is to remove from books the sensitized tags that could otherwise trigger alarms.)"
c. Question conceming pacemakers or heating aids
"Knogo reports that equipment may interfere with pacemakers."
'~atrons in libraries using other systems have reported that hearing aids often pick up
a slight buzz."
d. "Is the radiation they emit a danger?"
"In 1973 the U.S. Senate held hearings on the effects of low level electromagnetic
radiation on the environment. Thereafter, the office of Telecommunication Policy directed an
extensive research program on the mater. The results indicated that small amounts of EMR affected
both behavior and the nervous system. Neither government interest prior to this nor after it, however,
has altered the accepted U.S. standard for power density, which is 10 mw/cm square. Most of the
systems use amounts that exceed the standards of some European counties. As a result, several of
the systems are not marketable in those counties."
e. Knogo states that their system produces no harmful radiation and no equipment emits
microwave radiation. Do the others? Why make the statement?
f. Stopp-Loss by LPS International - banned in Switzerland. Tattle Tape is licensed to use
their original patents.
g. In many systems patrons are surveyed or interrogated by radiation whenever they pass by
sensing screens at the library's exit passageways. Detector tags in these systems cause an alarm, but
the systems is on whether or not these tags are present.
h. "Senttonic points out that while electromagnetic systems operate within the current U.S.
standard for radiation frequency, this standard is 1,000 times greater than the standard established
in many European countries. Stopp-Loss was not marketable in Switzerland because its radiation
level was too high; Checkpoint was not marketable in Denmark and the united Kingdom for the same
reason."
1. Common problems to "beat" system
a) Remove detector tags
b) check cars are removed and used to remove other books form collection
c) Magnets carried through sensing screens foil system.
j. "These shortcomings combined with the problem of false alarms, suggest that the
technology is far from perfect. Observers point out that if the equipment were really reliable, large
companies like 3M would emphasize retail applications, which represent an enormous potential
market, rather than the rather small library market. As it is, concerns about the reliability of equipment
and about being sued over false arrest have deterred suppliers form pursuing retail installations in a
larger scale way."
k. Users Report
a. Checkpoint
Huntsville Public Library - "If buying a system today, I would probably check
around. ' '
Los Angeles City College - "would shop around" in 1 semester over 50 check
labels ripped out."
b. Gaylord-
1 out of 2 would buy again.
2 out of 4 would buy again
e. Bookmark
1 out of 4 would buy again
d. Tattle Tape -
11 out of 20 would buy again
e. Senttonic-
5 out of 12 would buy again
"Biomedical Library at U.C.L.A. - difficulties interfacing 3M Tattle-Tape with CL Systems
LIBS 100 automated Circulation System. Signals emitted by security system caused spikes on CLSI
System, interfering with the proper recording of input. When difficulties arise engineers from both
companies will attempt to make the necessary adjustments; however, libraries considering the
purchase or use of both automated circulating systems and security systems should investigate the
possibility of incompatibility ahead of time."
1979/80 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Beverly Public Library is to provide the highest quality informational,
educational, cultural and recreational library service to the community by selecting, acquiring,
organizing, maintaining, making easily available and encouraging the use of books and other
communication media, library facilities and programs.
OBJECTIVES:
1) Implement staff and division reorganization with ongoing evaluation of progress and
practicality.
2) Continue all successful programs such as film-making, senior citizens programs, outreach
services, children's programs.
3) Add 6 Sunday aftemoon programs to schedule.
4) Complete personnel manual by June 1980.
a. Staff review of job descriptions by Sept. 15, 1980.
b. Outline of policies and work conditions enumerated in contract or city ordinances,
by Sept. 15.
c. Monthly meetings with trustee personnel committee to review and discuss, until
completion.
d. Staff committee to work on this also - to set own timetable.
5) Develop more efficient use of reference facilities by acquiring micro-tithe back issues of
most used periodicals (about 50 titles) making them avail-able on main floor near reference
room, along with microtithe reader-printer.
6) Follow this with allowing back issues of all periodicals to circulate.
7) Examine feasibility of transferring Children's Room charging out and checking in to Main
Desk Circulation Div.
8) Introduce "rental" collection for high demand best-sellers to supplement purchases for
regular collection.
9) Initiate study of circulation procedures with a view to improving return of overdue
materials.
10) Prepare a brochure to recruit volunteers and begin to use an increased number of
volunteers by June, 1980.
11 ) Continue library's Management By Objectives program by requesting objectives for 79/80
from all full-time employees and Division Heads.
12) Introduce job performance evaluation procedures based on MBO.
13) If security system is approved, implement necessary measures to complete installation by
June, 1980.
14) Prepare General Information Brochure on Beverly Public Library.
15) Continue efforts to acquire computer terminal as part of Library network.
16) Prepare instructional brochures on various aspects of library service.
17) Prepare book lists and topical brochures on various subjects of interest to public.
18) Urge completion of architects' feasibility study and consider actions leading to
improvement of physical facilities of library.
19) Gather info on making building more energy-effective and less energy wasteful (include
as much as possible in budget for 80/81)
20) Prepare a narrated sound/slide program for showing to community groups throughout
Beverly (by Oct. 31).
21) Publicize services offered at Beverly Farms Branch to increase use by all residents of
Beverly.
22) Complete evaluation of library's pamphlet collection to determine where to expand, to
contract, to simpli~J, to improve, to Modify.
23) Instruct all staff in use of micro_form equipment.
24) Develop a training program for all new employees.
25) Improve library service to patrons by increasing efforts to "cross-train" staff.
26) Devise a brochure by March 1980 to encourage gifts and bequests to library.
27) Increase and improve communication with other city departments and city officials by
holding a City Department Orientation program by June, 1980.
28) Develop cooperative school and public library programs to promote children's books,
reading, and use of public library.
29) Review and evaluate by June 1980 the statistics maintained by various library sections.
30) Organize a 1251h Anniversary Library Committee, with a view to celebrating from Dec.
1980 (1251h anniversary of resolution to establish library) to Sept. 20, 1981 (1251h
anniversary of date library opened).
31) Visit parents' groups to promote use of library as a parent/child activity or a family event
32) Expand library cultural services by offering, passes to several museums (MFA passes
already available).
33) Conduct community analysis update by gathering statistics from appropriate agencies.
34) For public use and access create catalog of library's holdings of circulating collection of
art reproductions with photograph of each picture on catalog card.
35) Continue development and refinement of local history collection with emphasis on
improving security and aesthetics of housing the collection.
36) Create separate story-telling area near Children's Room, to be attractive and appealing
to youngsters.
37) Try to develop more attractive exhibit area in lobby including bulletin board and exhibit
space.
38) Repeat user survey to compare with last year's results.
39) Complete procedures manual by June 1980.
40) Encourage staff development by arranging for exchange visits with other libraries and at
least one in-service program or workshop relating to expressed informational needs of staff
41) Review periodicals use and eliminate rarely used periodicals (objective 10) by January 30,
1980. (Use money to purchase rnicrofiche of high demand titles.)
42) Develop more cooperation and communications channels with public school teachers.
43) Encourage city departments to give extra copies of departmental reports, etc. which
would be of interest to public.
44) Use brochures and marketing aids of Various forms to advertise our services to target
groups, e.g. business, etc.
45) Expand services to handicapped; e.g. captioned films for deaf, depository for special
cassettes and tapes for blind.