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.

Here’s a comment from a recent post on the Bookmark Café:

It’s ridiculous. The place SMELLS terrible despite the cleaning schedule. We need an ID to swap both in AND out of the cafe, even when taco bell is closed (which doesn’t make any sense). And coffee is the most practical addition to the 24-HOUR cafe. There’s a taco bell on 34th and walnut and at 30th street station! Why do we need one here? If anything, we need affordable coffee (like Dunkin Donuts). I mean, COME ON, it’s a TWENTY-FOUR HOUR CAFE! It only makes sense.

Thanks for your comment. You’ve raised a number of good points.

1. Smell: We’re sorry about the smell. Unfortunately, we can scrub the place until it shines, which we do daily, but we can’t get rid of the food smell.
2. Security: The library proper is a controlled space, and our security system keeps careful track of who enters the building. This is one of the measures that we take to ensure the security of our library resources and the Drexel community that uses them.However, the café is a mix of both public and private space, and because the rest of the library building is accessible from the café, this presents some security issues for us. The café is open to the public via the 33rd Street entrance from 11am to 5pm on weekdays, which, for all intents and purposes, makes the doorway between the café and the library a public entrance. For this reason we must check IDs for entry into the library from the café during these times.

   You may ask “why do I have to scan my ID on the way out?” Here’s why: There is one doorway for entry and exit between the café and the library, and the security system requires that a card be swiped to open that one door—no matter which side of the door you’re on. This is different from the security system at the library’s main doors, which has one entry point and one exit point, eliminating the need for swiping out. For the security of the library and the Drexel community, we must have a system in place to track everyone who enters the building, and at the café door, this system requires that you swipe out as well. We know it’s a hassle, but it keeps us all safe, secure, and more comfortable.

3. Coffee: Like your other comments, this is a common one, and we wish there was something we could do about it. The food selections all around campus is controlled by Drexel’s Dining Services office. We suggest you let them know how you feel, as others have done. Feedback for Dining Services can be emailed to Shawn.James@sodexo.com. Dining Services also has a feedback form. As of now, you can’t choose Hagerty as a dining location on the form, but you can mention that in the comment section.

Just as we were quietly winding down the week this past Friday, Hagerty Library suddenly found itself in the midst of a brouhaha. Shortly before 5pm, a large team of Philadelphia police entered Hagerty looking for a robbery suspect. Drexel security soon arrived and locked the building, asking staff and patrons to remain inside while the search continued. At 6pm the building was evacuated for further searching, but Fox news reports it was later revealed that the suspect left the building before it was locked down.

Read more about the incident on the Philadelphia Daily News, Fox News, and CBS 3.

If you were in Hagerty between 5 and 6 on Friday, thanks for your patience. Hopefully Memorial Day weekend will kick off with less suspense.

I noticed that when I swiped my wallet going through security, my driver’s license came up on the computer screen. Why is Drexel Security “looking” through my wallet? Do you read my credit card, debit card, and health insurance information? Drexel ID is the only thing you should “look” at. I recommend all students swipe their cards only.

Thank you for your question and concern. The items in your wallet are safe, and we are not able to take pictures of them. There are two possible causes for confusion. First, when you scan your Dragon card, your on-file photo appears on the security screen. So what you saw may in fact have been the photograph from your Dragon card.

Alternatively, you may have seen a driver’s license that belonged to someone else. At the Hagerty security gate we take two kinds of ID: Dragon cards for members of the Drexel community, and other picture ID (usually driver’s licenses) for members of the public, alumni, and faculty and staff from other universities.  The monitor at the front security gate uses one kind of scanning software for Dragon cards and another kind for other types of ID, and both of those programs appear on the monitor at the same time. So you may very well have seen a driver’s pictured on the screen, but it was not yours. It most likely belonged to the last patron to enter the building who did not have a Dragon card.