Swindon Libraries have introduced self-service in the four largest libraries (Central Library, Highworth Library, North Swindon Library and West Swindon Library) – this doesn’t mean that there won’t be any staff!
The traditional library counter has been removed, and a number of self-service desks installed.
Although self-service systems are comparatively new to libraries, the technology has been used in the transport and warehouse environment for many years. It uses a wireless technology known as Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID for short. This is soundless, sightless and harmless; it does not affect (nor is it affected by) pushchairs or wheelchairs, pacemakers, or other metal items. It is the same system that it is used in offices, where employees use a badge with an embedded tag which is placed near to a tag-reader by a door, to gain access to the building.
Items in the library stock have a tag secured in them, which stores only the number for identifying that item on the library management system. The tag can be “read” at the self-service desk without requiring contact or line of sight between the tag and the tag-reader, so the book does not have to be opened first. The borrower’s card is scanned by barcode reader into the self-service unit, then the items to be borrowed are placed on the reader pad. The pad “reads” the item numbers on the tag, and sends the information to the library management system, to update the borrower’s account. The security element of the tag is deactivated, so that no signal is picked up by the security gates when the borrower leaves the library.
No information is read onto the item tag, nor does the tag relate to the person who has the item on loan. Data on the tag can only be read by a tag-reader attached to Swindon’s library system; it cannot be read by similar systems in shops, for example, and in fact libraries RFID systems use a different frequency from those in retail.
Customers in other libraries where this is installed have found it easy to use, they like being in control, and appreciate the extra privacy it gives them. This is a quote from Essex Libraries, where the same system is in use:
“ I would like to say a big thank you to the library for installing the new checkout
desks in our local library, and to the extremely helpful staff who now have more time to help me personally
…
… I now use the library two or three times a week and really enjoy using the new screens
to issue my items.”
- Mrs H Weeks, Colchester (84 years old)
We hope that customers in Swindon are as pleased with self-service as this lady evidently is.
In addition, self-booking terminals for the public computers are also being installed. Future developments include a paystation for paying off library charges.
Accessibility Guideline Notes
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