Evolution of a security system in a small library

This paper was written in response to an e-mail request I made to the IAMSLIC listserv for information about security systems in other research libraries. As manager of the library, I was becoming greatly concerned at the increasing loss of books and journals. Instead of receiving solutions and suggestions from the members, however, the majority of the responses were from those in similar situations who wanted the same information. Many who responded were from small research libraries, open twenty-four hours a day, with no security system and a loss problem, much the same as our Center's library, the focus of this paper. As book and journal issue losses seemed to increase, I decided it was time to do an inventory of our holdings. After seeing the results of the inventory, I approached the library director at the main campus, explained our situation and asked for help in obtaining at least a minimal security system. The paper describes the outcome of this request.