Case Studies in Library Security

This book employs a familiar vehicle in library literature—the case study—but in a departure from the expected, takes that time-honored genre into a new dimension. Shuman uses the conversational narrative as a vehicle for portraying 40 security and safety issues that may arise in libraries, disturbing or vexing patrons and library staff members, alike. Unlike the traditional narrative approach of other case study books, in this work, each case is presented as a soliloquy, within a fictional but plausible library situation, whereby the protagonist uses his or her own colorful mode of expression to describe not only what happened, but the thought processes that went into decisions reached, and how he or she felt about it afterwards. This approach is designed to make reading about library security not just informative but also interesting and fun to read. The case studies are accompanied by discussion questions.