Locked Library Door

So when Patti Nielson came running into the library yelling for everyone to get down and made the 911 call, how different would things have turned out if she had locked the library doors behind her? Would Eric and Dylan have just walked by it (like they did many other doors) or do you think they'd try to bust it down. I think the kill count would have dramatically been impacted. But I'd like to know your guys' thoughts.

I thought the library entrance was just like an open area? No doors so to speak.

There were doors to the library. The 911 operator asked Patti if it was possible for her to shut and lock them but at that point E & D were out in the hall and Patti didn't feel safe doing so.

Nielson could have had no way of imagining what was to happen. She was terrified and doing her best to be responsible and keep the kids safe. It's certainly possible that had the doors been shut, E & D would have just moved on and I'm sure that's something she has grappled with through the years.

I am not sure what would have happened. On one hand I think they may have tried to break down the doors because at the point of them entering the school kill counts were still low. And part of me thinks/wonders if the reason why they didn't break down other doors was because the killing was not what they thought it would be and they were just "done". So if they hadn't had enough killing, would they have simply knocked the doors down?

Would they have passed those doors and moved on to a different part of the school killing students there? Hard to say. I think it could be either way

They failed to break open any doors that day. Shooting the locks did not seem to enter their mind, they just seemed to think of lighting bombs near the locks. However, the library doors had windows. So, they could have possibly broken or shot them and reached in and unlocked the door.

I've heard about that one of Erics wads on doom was of the school. I don't know if that's true but I'm speculating around the fact that maybe they wanted to shoot inside the library because of its resemblance to the game making it easier or more fun to kill. It makes sense that if he did a map of the school he wouldn't do all the boring classrooms but only the more interesting areas like the library or the commons.

If this is true I think locking the doors probably would have made them go back to the commons

I have heard that too but I thought all of Eric's WADS were released.

It's an old rumor so you're not the only one, I have never seen it though, unless of course they never released it.

Patti mentions that she didn't have a key to the library door. So perhaps locking it is harder than we imagine.

And yes, whether Eric made a Columbine WAD is one of the oldest discussions. Jerald Block for instance figures he must have done so. Eric mentions making a Duke Nukem 3D level that looked like where they did their "Rebel Missions". Randy Brown says Eric made a Doom level that looked like the neighborhood, with the Brown house as the place with the monsters to kill at the end of the level. So, it seems like something he would do. I doubt every level Eric made was released, or that  if he made a Columbine mock-up that he would have shown that to others. Then again, he was pretty bold.

Others say it's just a myth. He does have several drawings of the levels he was creating in his journal, and none look like the school. Plus he had the actual school to study, so it is perhaps redundant to make a Columbine Doom map.