The new turnstiles in the library require a Cougar Card swipe to enter the facility.| Courtesy of UH Libraries

Towards the end of Fall 2019, UH Libraries announced that it will be installing a new turnstile system at their M.D. Anderson branch for anyone who wanted to enter the facility. Now that it’s been installed, some students aren’t happy about the new entry system. 

Since its implementation at the beginning of the school year, students now need to use their Cougar Card to swipe into the library. The school resembled this new system to those found at subway stations or high-rise buildings.

The library says on their website, they installed these measures to promote safety and security. Students expressed either indifference or unhappiness, with this new system. 

“I feel mostly indifferent but I feel a slight hassle when walking into the library,” said exercise science health professions junior Jad Jamal Karouni. “It didn’t make my life easier whatsoever, and it just takes slightly longer to get to where I’m going. I also do not feel any safer in the library.”

Other students, like biotechnology senior Arash Irandousti, agreed with Karouni’s sentiments.

“My opinion is that it feels as a large inconvenience and not for me but for a lot of students on both the entry and exit,” Irandousti said. “There already has been one that has broken down showing it’s reliability. The allocation of funding could have been placed to something else more effective for the safety of students on campus or some other program.”

Some students like Irandousti believed the funding would have been better put to use for other projects as well.

“While it hasn’t made my life easier or harder, if it was in place for the purpose of security measures for the campus it doesn’t make a difference as they should focus on the day or night crime located at points on campus such as Lot E,” Irandousti said. 

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“M.D. Anderson Library turnstile system brings some negative responses” was originally posted on The Cougar