Must we scan our IDs to enter Bookmark from within the library? It seems to serve no purpose, as we have already scanned IDs at the library entrance. Also, the alarm that goes off fairly frequently is incredibly annoying and disturbing.

Thanks for asking. It’s all about the 33rd Street door and Taco Bell.  When Taco Bell is open, the 33rd Street door of the cafe is unlocked and accessible to the public, which means that we must keep the door into the main part of W. W. Hagerty secure in order to protect the library and students. Keeping the door secure means that students must swipe in for access—those without Drexel IDs cannot get in. This door does not have a turnstile, which means that an ID must be swiped anytime the door is open, whether the student is going into or out of the Bookmark Cafe.

You may have noticed that you don’t have to swipe your ID to enter the cafe when Taco Bell is closed. That’s because when Taco Bell is closed, the 34th Street door in the Bookmark Cafe is locked and inaccessible to anyone. When this is the case, anyone who has already swiped their ID at the main Hagerty door has free access to the Bookmark Cafe.

Regarding the alarm, we know it’s annoying. Believe us—we know. Unfortunately this door must be alarmed so that those who don’t swipe their IDs and those who monitor the door are alerted to the problem. Students can help dampen the alarm by swiping their IDs every time they open the door between the library and the Bookmark Cafe, and by stopping to listen to the staff member monitoring the door when he or she asks them to.

I am not really sure why there is the no food policy throughout the library. Yes, it can cause messes, but 99% of the time student are careful and cleanup after themselves. You cannot honestly say that an hoagie from the lunch truck is detrimental to the library in any shape or form.

Thanks for writing. The food policy is written in such a way as to be lenient, but not overly lax. In fact, we did try doing away with the food policy completely a couple of years ago, and we paid the price with a spike in litter, garbage, and varmints. The Drexel buildings that allow any type of food are also equipped with the staff to deal with the resulting mess. Hagerty Library is not set up with that kind of staff. Even with our current policy and our efforts to enforce it, library staff continually find themselves cleaning up left-behind food messes. There is no one in the library whose job it is to do this.

We are duty bound to protect the people who use the library and also the books, DVDs, and other resources within the building. That protection includes attention to cleanliness.

Here are a few places on our website that might answer some questions regarding Hagerty’s food policy :

http://www.library.drexel.edu/about/foodanddrink.html

http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/librarylog/?tag=food

http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/thesuggestionbox/?tag=food