Article

Library self-service grows quietly

Distributors say new technology saves scarce manpower for other tasks; new vending machines also extend libraries' reach beyond their walls.

March 8, 2009

To view a slideshow of library self-checkout technology, click here

Library check-out technology has much to offer poor librarians who still have to open and stamp each item by hand.

New self-service technology has eliminated the need for librarians to handle most individual outbound items at all; patrons can even retrieve movies and CDs, which used to be guarded by staff because they were likely to be stolen, from locked dispenser vaults. And some libraries are even using self-serve machines to extend their reach beyond the institution walls, by setting up offsite redbox-style vending machines.

The potential market growth is such that Integrated Technology Group, which specializes in library services, recently partnered with kiosk-manufacturer NCR Corp. to extend its scope around the globe. The partnership gives ITG more international reach and more ammunition to compete with 3M, the biggest U.S. distributor of library solutions. ITG is the only library specialist NCR is currently partnered with.

"It's going to give us muscle," said Amy Thropp, ITG's vice president of marketing. "We are getting big, and we needed to be able to anticipate how we would be able to expand our customer base without expanding our own company significantly."

For its third-generation self-checkout machine, ITG is using NCR's EasyPoint hardware for its first all-in-one hardware appliance. NCR's customer experience consulting team also helped upgrade the user interface for the system, which uses ITG's Apex XpressCheck software. There are three different versions available: bar code only, bar code with RFID, and bar code with electromagnetic security.

Though libraries often can't afford the latest technology, these RFID scanners are among the most advanced on the market, which allow patrons to check out multiple books at once, and which have the ability to identify individual items. Many retailers use scanners that can recognize items only at the palette level, identifying groups of items.

"In this case,ã€€RFID is cutting edge and libraries are leading the pack," Thropp said.

Initial plans call for hundreds of ITG's new kiosks to be deployed in North America, with future deployments to Latin America also in the works. ITG is marketing them mostly to public libraries; universities don't circulate enough material to justify the expense and schools usually can't afford the technology, Thropp said.

Need grows

Other countries have been quicker to embrace self-service technology than the U.S., said Leslie Burger, chair of the American Library Association public awareness committee and director of the Princeton, N.J., Public Library. In Singapore, there are libraries that rely completely on a self-service model, she said, with patrons able to seek help via text-message requests.

In the U.S., technology is used more as a complement to personnel whose time could be better spent on the service floor, Burger said.

"I don't think these are going to replace people, I think these are going to displace people," she said. "Potentially it allows us to put more of our staff out on the service floor to provide direct customer service."

One factor holding back libraries from adopting self-service equipment is the cost, she said. With some self-check-in machines with RFID tags selling for more than $100,000, and with DVD-dispensing machines costing $30,000 or more, many libraries simply don't have the funds to invest. Bar code- based self-check systems require less of an investment but still cost more than many libraries can absorb, even if the devices pay for themselves over time.

"Most libraries aren't sitting with large cash reserves that can be used to purchase these systems," said Burger, who said many libraries get self-service machines as part of larger capital projects.

Burger said patrons are getting used to seeing self-service machines in more libraries, which increases their acceptance. The vast majority of patrons who use the machines do so for the convenience, though she said some people use them to remain anonymous when checking out sensitive material.

New products

Libraries who can invest are finding more options that solve old problems, Thropp said. For example, libraries had struggled to allow self-service for media items such as DVDs, which are likely to be stolen because they are small and relatively costly to buy.

"It basically defeats the idea of self-service because they can't check out CDs and DVDs there," Thropp said.

Some companies, including ITG and 3M, have developed DVD-case locks that can be unlocked by the self-check scanner. ITG has a patent on its unlocking mechanism, Thropp said. Security tags in the case will trigger an alarm at the door if the item isn't properly checked out.

ITG also has a media-item vault system that, when the item's case is scanned on the self-checker, dispenses the actual DVD or CD. ITG's vault, which it calls Apex DiscXpress II, holds up to 5,000 discs.

3M says its Integrated Disc Media Unlocker is different because its system matches the item being unlocked to the item being checked out, to ensure that thieves don't check out one item, unlock and remove another, and then return the still-locked first item.

Some libraries are deploying a vending machine called Bokomaten in public transportation stations and other public locations.

Redbox itself is even piloting 10 rental installations in libraries for the next six months, including Burger's Princeton Public Library. Burger said redbox won't be competing with the libraries' own selection of movies because the institutions don't have many copies of items, and some libraries charge for movie checkouts. Libraries and redbox will split the profits on the rentals.

"People live in this 24-7 world they didn't live in even 10 years ago," Burger said. "The expectation is you can do anything when the impulse strikes you. If you want to get a book at 2 in the morning, you can drive by one of these vending machines."