Design of Buildings

Security provisions are an expensive afterthought. The cost of altering buildings to repair security deficiencies is generally huge. Security must be given considerable priority in the design of libraries and archival buildings. Library and museum buildings will, as insurance companies begin to take more interest in the security features of buildings, become places whose design reflects some input from a security point of view. The fact that security considerations must be given their due in the overall design of a building will save costly renovations after the building is completed. The subject of security systems other than those for book theft detection purposes was treated in Library Technology Reports , March 1977, in an article which began; “While book theft is a very important issue in library security many libraries are in need of other security systems, especially to prevent and detect vandalism which occurs during the hours when the library is closed.”