Library users and staff in Queensland’s Fraser Coast Regional Council area are experiencing improved services with the introduction last September of new technology in all of the region’s five library branches.
Fraser Coast Regional Librarian Jo Parker said the new radio frequency identification (RFID) systems reduce staff input needed at circulation service points, increasing the opportunity for staff to focus on helping library patrons.
The new systems include
two RFID automatic return bins, three RFID sort assistants, nine RFID circulation assistants, three RFID touch screen self loan stations and two RFID enabled security gates.
The systems are spread around the five Fraser Coast libraries to improve borrowing and securing library material.
“This implementation was due to the sleeves rolled up hard work of the library staff and volunteers who spent a considerable amount of time converting 220,000 items to RFID enabled,” Jo Parker said.
“The Hervey Bay Library has a separate returns room and the introduction of an automatic return RFID Bin and Sort Assistant means staff are no longer permanently rostered to returns during open hours.
“The automatic returns bin ensures patrons have their returns processed as soon as they drop their loans in the returns chute, allowing them to borrow more books straight away.
“In the past, we would often have to go to the returns room, retrieve the books that had just been returned and clear them in our system before the patron could check out further material.”
An RFID Sort Assistant has also been introduced at the Maryborough Library.
Three touch screen Self Loan Stations have also been installed at Hervey Bay and Maryborough branches.
The stations display borrower information, borrower status, and can lend up to five books simultaneously.
They come with a DVD unlocking device to allow patrons to self borrow audio-visual items.
Jo Parker said that where self check out systems have been introduced, there has been at least a 50 per cent pick up of all loans going through the system.
She said that where traditional methods of checking out books are still used, librarians are benefitting from a more efficient, one stop system.
“In the past, librarians used hand held scanners to check the books out, before swiping them through a security strip,” Jo Parker said.
“They now place the book on a pad, which automatically reads and desecures them for checkout.
“The whole system is much more efficient, enabling more staff to get out from behind the desk and onto the floor, actually helping people to find information.”
For further information
contact Jo Parker on
(07) 4197 4229.
