Public schools have lockdown, secure and hold, and shelter in place procedures that go into effect if there is a threat. Public libraries attached to those schools with direct access into the school but also direct access from the outside entail a security risk during these procedures. Two main obstacles prevented the library from following an identical procedure to the school; lack of in loco parentis status and a requirement that City Manager permission be granted prior to closing any non-school public building.

Collaboration between the library, school, police, legal, emergency communication, and city manager was required. Exploring the ways in which the goals of the school safety procedure could be met required understanding of the intricacy of security planning, leveraging communication tools between departments, assessing the physical plant of the library building, and creating new library procedures that emphasize rapid reaction.

We created modified versions of the three security procedures that take into account the need for safety without infringing on the rights of patrons. We also built redundancy into the methods for communication to the library if the school was entering a security procedure. We also secured a change in policy removing the need for prior city manager approval to close a public building. Formal procedures were created and drills were run. The library started participating in school run safety drills.