I Am Completely Serious

:D I don't deal with circulation other than the small section of reference books that we only give to people after we've checked them out for 4 hours because they're in such high demand. And even though you carefully explain to people that it's a four-hour checkout and they're not allowed to take it out of the building, invariably they put it in their bag and set off the alarm anyway.

We're allowed to let them take it out on a case-by-base basis, but the one time someone reeeeally wanted to take one out she got angry at me and I dug my heels in, then took her to the head of reference, who wouldn't let her take it out either. :D

It was the MLA handbook, and as far as we could figure out, she wanted to take it out so she could go Xerox all of it at a cheaper place than the library. And we couldn't figure out why she wouldn't just go buy a copy. It's not like it was cheaper to Xerox it.

I'm not sure, but I think the only way to get a book past the sensors is to be on crutches or in a wheelchair and use the ground-floor exits - they have sensor gates, but when you have permission to use them, you hit an intercom button and someone in Circulation answers, then lets you out. I *think* we have a card-swipe on the outside that we program with the ID of anyone who has permission to use the downstairs doors. Our main exits are up a huge, steep, reasonably dangerous set of stairs. :D

So I don't know if the sensor gates downstairs set off an alarm upstairs. If they do, then we know who went out at that point.

The *best* way to steal stuff is to be a student worker or to pretend to be one and leave through the loading dock when staff does - we're likely to hold the door open for anyone who looks like they belong. I have temporarily taken books out to read at lunch when I didn't want to trek upstairs and check them out. :D

Once, before my time, some members of a frat stayed behind after the library was closed and used a bunch of bound periodicals to build a fairly substantial fort in the middle of the lobby. That caused the university to set up cameras and a bit more security in the building. :)