Do-it-yourself books: Library gets automated checkout system
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 1, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Teagan Willard, 4, uses the new computerized self-checkout system at the Wayne County Public Library.
pmoore@newsargus.com
Patrons of Wayne County Public Library now have the same option they find at grocery stores and other businesses -- self-checkout.
Anyone with a library card and a PIN number can access the new system, officials said.
Library staff have spent recent weeks training and learning the new equipment, which was provided and installed through an $82,346 grant.
The timing was right for the popular trend to come to Wayne County, Library Director Donna Phillips said.
"It was part of what was installed at the Steele Memorial Library (in Mount Olive). It came with that building project," she said. "The whole idea is that the library embraces new technologies because we're all about trying to improve the user (experience). It's not necessarily new to public libraries but it's new to us.
"We would not have been able to afford it without this grant."
The Project and Access Digitization Grant, she explained, was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
As soon as the equipment was installed, patrons were able to use it. Even young children adapted quickly.
"(Kids) love it, love it, love it," said Laura Rachel Barwick, children's department head. "It's not difficult. It's just going to take a little getting used to."
For those who are not as tech savvy or are more comfortable having someone check books in and out, two terminals at the front desk remain for that purpose.
Four stations have been set up at the main branch for ease of self checkout, Mrs. Phillips said. Two of them have dual screens, one facing the patron and the other seen by the staffer, for assisted checkout. Another is an independent unit and the fourth, at the reference desk, is positioned lower for those in wheelchairs or other access.
The grant funding covered equipment, installation and training. It also paid for having substitute and part-time staff being brought in to assist with tagging the inventory.
"We have been aggressively tagging since November," Ms. Dail said of the security feature that entailed affixing a special tag in back of each book that is linked to a barcode.
Excluding magazines, about 90,000 tags were added to materials at the Goldsboro library.
"A little over 80 percent of our collection is tagged," Mrs. Phillips said.
Fremont and Pikeville branches are not included in the automated checkout yet, the director said, but as new materials come in, they are being tagged in preparation for the future.
The advantages of the new system are many, library staff said.
"It will allow for inventory control," Mrs. Phillips said. "It comes with a wand. We're able to wand the shelf and see if anything is missing."
"It's like a librarian's dream," Mrs. Barwick said. "It's so quick. We can check in, we can use these to check books in bulk."
"What I think I'm going to love, and it's still new, I appreciate the fact that my staff now is able to do other things, to get things in a better order," said Bonnie Dail, circulation department head. "They can assist patrons with their needs."
Eventually, Mrs. Phillips said, the goal is for the library to have even more enhanced capabilities, like freeing up the staff for interaction with the public and being able to offer more adult programming.
In the meantime, as the new checkout system gains momentum, Mrs. Phillips praised her staff for their efforts during the transition.
"How adaptable this staff is," she said. "I appreciate them so much. Change is inevitable but in a public library you have to stay relevant, and this staff is all about serving the public. They just embraced it."