A state-of-the-art security system recently installed at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI’s) main library is expected to prevent millions of dollars in losses while preserving the institution’s rare and important scholarly works.

A feature of the new system is that the library’s doors are automatically locked if an attempt is made to take a book out of the facility without it being properly checked out.

The UWI library system was acquired from 3M Jamaica at a cost of US$90,000 — a 30 per cent discount from its original price tag of US$123,000 — through the UWI Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF).

Speaking at the official handover on Tuesday, Donovan Leigh James, the chief executive officer for TELiCON who worked on the installation of the system, said students will be able to check material in and out of the library 24 hours per day and “will be able to find instantly, exactly what they need”. This, he said, will allow for staff and student to become more productive.

The 3M system will also be integrated with the library’s buzzer and close circuit camera systems.

James said UWI now joins three other libraries in Jamaica with 3M security systems.

UWIDEF chairman Dennis Lalor told the gathering that the fund was the brainchild of former UWI vice-chancellor Sir Alister McIntyre, who had assembled a group of businessmen to rehabilitate the Mona campus after it was damaged by Hurricane Gilbert that year. UWIDEF was established in 1990 to raise funds for ongoing projects at the university.

“We are very proud that since our launch we have managed to contribute J$404 million and US$1 million to the university,” Lalor said.

He added that the projects implemented have proven very useful and a number of students have received scholarships through the fund. These include the Distinguished Fellow project currently held by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga and the establishment of the Centre for Students with Special Needs in collaboration with the Lions Club of Mona and UWI’s Distance Learning Centres.

Lalor also appealed to students to return to the library outstanding books and books they may have removed without permission.

He said UWIDEF has brokered 18 scholarships, including six new ones in 2010.

Acting librarian Leona Bobb-Semple emphasised that the library contained many rare books, which were used by local and international researchers. She said some pieces in the library were missing because they were “not properly checked out”.

Belmiro Montaldi, managing director of 3M Caribbean Region, noted that 3M is a very diversified company with locations in 150 countries and produces from elaborate security systems for airports to simple post-it cards. He said the company is the leader in library security systems throughout the world processing 4.5 billion items, and is installed in thousands of libraries, including universities in Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.

Resulting from the collaboration, three scholarships each valued at $240,000 will be presented in the new academic year in honour of the late Kenneth Ingram, UWI librarian from 1971 to 1981.