Oct 09, 2017When Franklin County's Coyle Free Library, in Chambersburg, Pa., opens the doors of its renovated facility next month, it will feature two high-frequency (HF) RFID-enabled vending machines to check out or rent DVDs and CDs to patrons as part of a full solution to automate circulation and security. The RFID technology deployment is intended to reduce some of the more mundane tasks of employees so that they can spend more time helping patrons, says Denice M. Bigham, Coyle Free Library's director and the Franklin County Library System's director of library services.
The library system will initially consist of UHF RFID tags affixed to most of the library's books and disks, in addition to RFID readers at three separate doors. The disk vending machines come with their own built-n RFID readers.
The vending machine, the tagging of CDs and DVDs, and the software to share that data with the integrated library system (ILS) are supplied by Public Information Kiosk, a subsidiary of RTI Group. RTI's PIK Library Media Box vending machines each store and dispense up to 750 titles and identify which items they contain, as well as where they are located, via RFID tags on the movies or video games, and readers and antennas built into each unit. One unit allows patrons to check out disks free of charge, while the other, featuring more recent and on-demand titles, charges $1 plus tax for each two-day rental.
Coyle Library, part of the Franklin County Library System, is located in the former Chambersburg post office. The library offers 70,000 books and other media, and has been growing. When it comes to movie and game loans, the library stores bar-code-tagged empty cases. A patron can remove a particular case off the shelf and bring it to the desk, and staff members will then proceed to another shelf to retrieve the disk and place it in the case before checking it out to that individual.
This year, the library planned to extensively renovate and expand the building by adding 10,000 square feet of space. In order to accommodate that growth, Bigham explains, it has temporarily moved to another location until the renovation is complete. During the planning, she says, "Our staff sat down and thought we'd look at what is out there in technology to help free up staff time so they could use that time to help patrons." One technology that interested the library was RedBox, which rents movies via vending machines. With the goal of providing similar services to its patrons, the library approached RTI.
The library gained state and federal grants to help pay for the machines, which cost approximately $90,000 in total. Other money is going toward the RFID-tagging of library titles, the installation of RFID reader gates at the door, and a locking laptop kiosk.
The library is tagging all 5,000 of its DVDs and CDs, while only the most popular movies and music will be put into the vending machines. Any titles containing multiple disks, such as TV shows and serials, will not be included in the machines, Bigham says. However, she adds, because there is an RFID tag on every item, as well as readers at the door, the library no longer needs to store each disk separately in a secure area. Thus, when patrons check out an item, the process will be simpler and faster for staff members.
The Library Media Box is designed for ease of use, as well as a reduction of labor and security for items, according to Fred Goodman, RTI's library division president. The machines operate with a standard library card. A user can first search the library's website, prior to visiting the library, and reserve a specific title in the vending machine. That data, including the patron's ID number and the title being reserved, is then forwarded to the PIK software.
When a user arrives at the library, he or she can use the touchscreen on the unit's front. As the visitor scans his or her bar-coded library card, the system can automatically produce the title that the patron has reserved. He or she can use the screen to browse titles and make other selections as well, says Bill McClendon, PIK's CTO. Each title's RFID tag comes with a unique ID number that is linked to the title's information in the library-management system. When a patron requests a title, the machine's software identifies that title's location based on where its tag was read in the machine. The machine then forwards that title to the dispensing unit and confirms the correct choice before releasing it to that person.
The Media Box software forwards the DVD and patron information to the library-management software, thus indicating it is checked out. The DVD is ejected, while the machine prints a receipt with the return date. The patron can then walk through the security gates with the DVD without setting off alarms. PIK builds its RFID readers using reader chips from STiD.
Disks that are not stored in the Media Box are also protected by the RFID system, since the readers interrogate their RFID tags as they are removed. If the library-management software determines that an item has not been checked out properly, an alert will be triggered.
The machines serve as one part of the larger Bibliotheca integrated solution, featuring RFID tagging of all materials, the three security gate RFID readers and four self-checkout desktop readers, along with Bibliotheca software integrated with the ILS to provide personnel and patrons with automated data for check-outs, returns and other functions.
The library is also offering laptops to card holders, which they must keep on the premises. An individual can unlock the laptop cabinet via a bar-code scan of his or her library card. The computer's RFID tag and the door's reader will sound an alert in the event that a laptop leaves the facility.
Several libraries across North America have deployed the Media Box RFID-enabled units, Goodman says, including Stark County Public Library, in Ohio. Many are upgrading from an earlier non-RFID version of the kiosk to the latest model, which comes in four sizes: a 750-title single cabinet, a 1,500-title double cabinet, a 2,250-title triple cabinet and a 3,000-title cabinet. A glass front enables users to watch the robotics in use during the title-selection process.
In the future, Goodman predicts, libraries may transition to RFID- or Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled library cards for circulation purposes, as well as enabling the use of NFC readers built into patrons' smartphones. Once the system is taken live at Coyle Free Library, Bigham expects it to save time for the staff, and to make the borrowing of disks faster and easier for visitors. She estimates that 20 to 30 transactions related to popular disk checkouts occur daily, as well as other disks not available in the machines.
