Assessment of Physical Security and Safety Conditions in Public and Academic Libraries: the Case of Zanjan Province

The goal of a library security system should be to provide a safe and secure facility for employees, resources, and patrons. At the same time, the system must perform these functions as seamlessly as possible, without interfering with the library's objective of easily and simply providing patron services. (McComb, 2004)Design/methodology/approach: The present study is a descriptive survey. The control checklist provided by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was used to evaluate the physical and electronic security of buildings and equipment in public libraries, academic libraries and information centers for the purpose of improving safety, and decreasing the unwanted consequences of library insecurity. The statistical universe for this study was the 14 public libraries, academic libraries and information centers in Zanjan province. Descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequency were used to analyze the data. In general, there is no meaningful difference in keeping safety and security principles between the public library buildings of Zanjan province (the study includes assessment of management of materials, possessions, and building elements; doors, keys and locks; traffic and internal area monitoring; windows, safeguards, bars, and gates; external area lighting; fire alarms and security precautions; stock access; security gates).Even though based on table 3 (a comparison of the extent of observing safety and security principles in public and academic libraries) the existing security condition looks moderate, it leaves a lot to be desired. In addition, all security factors under study and improvement should match the standards.