Many campus libraries are open to those with no affiliation with the colleges and are proud of that tradition.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

San Jose State University library attack highlights safety issues

Around 9 p.m. on March 8 a woman — mid-50s, no affiliation with San Jose State University — was washing her hands in a restroom on the second floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on campus. Another woman, who officials said was also unaffiliated and hiding in that bathroom, attempted to attack her. The woman who was attacked screamed and, with the help of a third library patron, chased the attacker away. The university’s police made an arrest almost immediately.

Episodes like that are relatively infrequent, and that one in particular was resolved without incident, though it alarmed many on campus. It also highlights an issue facing many universities, especially those located near large numbers of people unaffiliated with the institution: how to provide a safe environment for students while remaining open and accessible to the public at large.

“Academic libraries, in particular those that are at public institutions, want to allow walk-in access, certainly,” said Ann Campion Riley, president of the Association of Research and College Libraries and acting director of libraries at the University of Missouri at Columbia. “But we do have to balance that with security concerns for students and other users.”