New security system at the Wimberly Library

The Boca campus library will soon soon require students to present their Owl Cards after 10 p.m. as part of a new turnstile entry system.

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Alexander Rodriguez | Contributing Photographer

Jillian Marsh, Contributing Writer

The next time students plan to go on an all-night cramming session at the Boca campus library, they must not forget their “golden ticket” for entry — their Owl Card.

In an effort to increase campus safety, the S.E. Wimberly Library, along with the FAU Police Department, is looking to install a security system that would require all students to swipe their Owl Card at gates upon entering and exiting the building at night.

According to FAU’s Minor Projects sheet, initial installation of the gates has been completed.

Currently, all that’s in place are the terminals where students will swipe their Owl Cards. The next part of construction will be the addition of glass barriers to prevent students from entering the library without identification.

The initial construction of the gate entry system has been completed. Alexander Rodriguez | Contributing Photographer

Although a date for the full installation has not been officially determined, once it’s established, students will be required to slide their Owl Card in the gate after 10 p.m. If a student forgets their card after this time, they will not be allowed inside the library.

“Security in the library is being enhanced because it is a high traffic area,” Sean Brammer, the interim chief of police of the FAU Police Department, said via email.

Various students sit in the front of the S.E. Wimberly Library. Adriana Laplanche | Contributing Writer

The entry system will be similar to that of Florida State University’s Strozier Library system, which was implemented in 2010 upon renovations.

In November 2014, an FSU campus shooting resulted in three students being shot outside of the library. It was the library’s security system that prevented the shooter from gaining access to the inside of the building.

“At [the] FSU library, the individual wasn’t able to get inside. Inside students weren’t injured,” Steven Matthew, head of access services at S.E. Wimberly Library, said.

He added, “We are an open campus. More security, more safer. There’s a lot of school shootings, we even had a couple of lockdowns.”

The library has been equipped with preventive measures, such as the “Active Shooter Emergency Response Guides” that have been placed in study rooms to teach students how to act in a possible shooting.

Included in the response guide is a five-step procedure known as “ALICE,” which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter the Attack and Evacuate.

Brammer said in an email, “This was done to enhance the safety of the library after hours, with a push for the library to be open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.”

Jillian Marsh is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @J_Alliyah007.