The sexual assault of a three-year-old girl at the Belconnen library in September ‘‘sharpened’’ people’s attention to safety at public libraries, which received additional funding in the 2014-15 Territory Budget to improve safety.
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The $230,000 boost will be used to upgrade outdated CCTV systems, and remove partitions around public computer terminals.
ACT Libraries director Vanessa Little said the existing CCTV systems were “old and clunky,” and that the new funds would be used to upgrade systems in all nine branches to the same standard.
“It won’t increase the number of cameras in the libraries so much, but the quality of them, the quality of the image,” she said.
The money would also be used to upgrade the layout of public access computer terminals, removing the partitions around terminals to improve the visibility of other library users and staff.
“What we want to do is make them much more accessible for people by taking out the study corrals, and putting in nice open furniture so that people can use the computers and still have eyesight of what’s happening around in the library,” she said.
Ms Little said attention to library safety was “sharpened” when a three-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at the Belconnen branch in September after wandering away while her mother was using a computer.
A 40-year-old, Shane Williams, was convicted and sentenced in January to 7½ years in prison.
Ms Little said the extra security measures would make library users feel even more comfortable.
“It’s much easier for a parent or a sibling to be able to use a computer if they’ve got line of sight right through the library,” she said.
“It also makes people feel safer because they’re part of the library, part of what’s happening.”
The additional funding is the result of a successful budget bid by ACT Libraries.
It was the first request for funds to upgrade the CCTV system, but the second time funds were requested to upgrade the corrals.
Regular library funding was maintained in the 2014-15 budget, which includes a $2million fund that is used to buy new material for library collections.
