Re: Security systems, ah!

[Lizbeth Messing <lmessing@LEO.NMC.EDU>]

        I believe that a security system that fails to deter theft is
pointless.  Perhaps I'm wrong, but when I hear tales of students
tampering with the security system I'm relatively certain that the
administration in that school didn't "buy into" the system.  When we
installed a Checkpoint system it was with the understanding that such a
large investment by the school meant that everyone was serious about
maintaining materials for student use.  We developed a policy that
treated tampering as vandalism and dealt swiftly with the first and every
subsequent event.  Naturally each fall there is an episode or two of
fooling around, but even on this very large (2,350) campus, word gets out
quickly.
        I would suggest that school librarians and administrators work
together to develop policies to protect expensive, scarce resources.
We're not in this alone.

Lizbeth Messing
Traverse City Sr. High
Traverse City, MI.
lmessing@leo.nmc.edu