University Library News

Yesterday, after a series of incidents in the Georgia State Library (Atlanta campus), we made several immediate security changes. One temporary measure we put in place was to suspend access to the “public.” This has caused some confusion, so this message is intended to clarify our policy. We are using the same restrictions we normally put into place during finals. Access to the Library (Atlanta) is restricted to:

• currently enrolled students, faculty and staff from Georgia State,
• currently enrolled students, faculty and staff from the University System of Georgia or ARCHE schools with a valid institutional ID card and
• Board of Regents employees with a valid employee ID card.

We have suspended visitor access as one step in a broad strategy to address security. Under our normal procedures, we have a clear protocol for identifying visitors before allowing library access. Furthermore, we have no evidence that the person or persons involved in these crimes entered as an approved visitor. It is worth noting that we have, relative to peer, academic libraries at state institutions, a very restrictive visitor policy. That said, the safety and well-being of students, staff and faculty is our first priority. This is why we have temporarily restricted access to the groups of students, faculty and staff listed above while we make other permanent security changes. Any other researchers needing access must be cleared in advance through the Library Administrative Office (404-413-2700), and will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Jeff Steely
Dean of Libraries
Georgia State University