November 27, 2001 Library Of Congress Launches New Security Web Site

The Library of Congress has developed a security awareness Web site to inform public users about the Library's security practices and requirements.

The Web site, which is titled "Library Security: What You Need to Know to Use Library of Congress Reading Rooms," is available to the public at www.loc.gov/rr/security. The site is a product of the Security Awareness Subcommittee of the Library's Collections Security Oversight Committee.

"We are pleased to offer this Web site as part of a larger security awareness program," said Lynn McCay, assistant director of the Information Research Division in the Congressional Research Service, and chair of the Security Awareness Subcommittee. "It provides public users with a central location to access all relevant Library of Congress security information."

The new Web site was developed to provide users with information about the Library's security practices and requirements developed during the past decade to protect the collections, staff, and visitors of the Library. Many of these measures have had a significant impact on readers who use the Library's reading rooms and other research facilities. The Web site will also assist the Library's public service staff in communicating the Library's security guidelines to researchers, many of whom are first-time patrons of the Library.

The security awareness Web site includes information on topics ranging from reader registration and entry-exit procedures to video surveillance in the reading rooms and restrictions on personal belongings. In addition, photographs are used to illustrate and emphasize a number of topics. A list of key security contacts is provided, and there are links to general Library researcher information sources.