Late nights at the library are a staple of every student’s college years, but nobody should have to brave them alone. That’s why RBD provides a nighttime security escort service for those stepping out into the dark on their own after a long study session.
“Since we’re open 24 hours, some people feel uncomfortable [late at night],” said Jayson Hill, director of communications and marketing for Auburn University Libraries.
Beginning at 5 p.m. and lasting until 7 a.m. the following morning, the RBD Library After Hours Escort allows students exiting the library to go with a trained security guard hired by Campus Safety and Security. The University contracts employees from Allied Security Professionals.
“With us being here, it just gives students that real sense of security,” said Davontay Robertson, one of the guards on the security team. “I know when I was here from my freshman to my senior year before I graduated, I would see a few of the officers patrolling the library. At first, I didn’t even know it myself, but it just [creates] that sense of ease.”
RBD initiated the service in 2009 as concerns about walking on campus in the dark were raised by the student body. Hill briefly discussed the process for making use of the service. Guards are tasked with chaperoning students to the Comer Hall parking lot, the library parking deck or the Quad from the Mell Classroom building.
“All you do is you go down to the circulation desk and if you ask there, they will point you over to the security desk, which is right next to the doors to the parking deck,” he said. “There’s a person sitting there, and you just ask them to walk you to your car. There’s no charge. You just ask for it, [and] the person walks out [with you] and they walk back.”
When the security service first began 10 years ago, an average of 10 to 15 students made use of it each night. However, Hill says the number of interested people has dwindled to only one to two people every night in recent years despite recent circumstances raising apprehension among students.
“Depending on the part of the semester, such as close to finals week, we’ll have more of a flow of students that come in here,” Robertson said. “When we do, we’ll average around three to four escorts during the week or during the day. Usually, a lot of people don’t come in here just by themselves. We see maybe a group of about four to five people coming in studying as a group together, but we are here just in case.”
The guards also function as night watchmen for the library itself with the building being less populated at hours after dusk, meaning fewer eyes to notice a potential incident.
“We typically have three officers,” said Tony Cochran, supervisor for the service. “One on the Mell side, one on the RBD side and then we have an officer that controls the floor.”
Robertson said one of the best parts of his job is when students pass by and share their appreciation and positive feedback for the guards’ duties as monitors for the library.
“A lot of the students [tell me] when I’m over at my station, ‘Thank you for being here and watching over us,’” he said. “For me, it kind of feels weird because I’m still in that age group with them, but I’m just here doing my job.”
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