Library users here have noticed some strange red spots on the spine labels of the books.  Why is that there?  The answer is simple; the library is transforming using RFID technology.  The red dots are merely the way the staff can tell that that particular book is already coded into the system.

 

RFID stands for radio frequency identification.  For years, libraries have used barcodes as a mean of recognizing a particular book for our computer system.  Now we are using an RFID tag. This has lots of benefits for libraries and for users.  For instance, barcodes require line-of-sight technology that was wanded over by a scanner to check out.  RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a reader.

 

So now to check out a book, a library staff member must open the book, wand the barcode, place a checkout card, close the book and move on to the next item.  With RFID, users can just stack the books on a scanner; it reads all the books at one time and then prints out a list with all the items and the checkout date.  This speeds up the process dramatically and will enable the library to place self-checkout units at both desks so users can check out themselves. 

 

Just imagine a parent with ten picture books to checkout.  Swipe your library card, stack the books on the scanner, pick up the printout, and away you go.  So much easier and so much faster.

 

RFID also has advantages for inventory.  With over 130,000 items, it can sometimes be very hard to find a particular book.  It can be mis-shelved, or someone picked it up to look at it and put it away someplace else.  With RFID, a staff member can run a wand across each shelf and identify books out of order or books marked missing.  Large libraries can wand their entire collections in a few hours.

 

We just received 22 boxes of tags, and started two weeks ago putting a tag in each book and connecting it to its computer record.  This is an easy process, but time-consuming.  The staff is now tagging everything new and books that have circulated.  We have staff stationed with a portable unit in distant corners tagging books on each shelf.  So in order for us to not waste time trying to tag the same book twice, we have resorted to the very non-techy method of marking the spine labels with red dots.

 

With a collection well over 100,000 items this is going to take some time, and we won’t be able to install the shelf-checkout units and gates until most of the books are tagged.  We are hoping to be near that stage by late summer or early fall. 

 

Within this year, users will have the advantage of speedier checkout, and less lost items.  The library staff will be able to check out much quicker, and the collection will be in better order.  All possible through modern technology.

A reminder, the library will be closed this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday and will re-open for its regular hours on May 31st.