Link to July 20 JSOnline article, "Library uses microchips to manage materials".
Excerpt:
Outside the West Allis Public Library [shown in picture above], Lisa Jones pushes a button to open a steel hatch and slides her books and movies, one at a time, onto the conveyor belt.
Within seconds, a computer checks in each item and reactivates its anti-theft device. It clears Jones’ account, spits out a receipt and then — just inside the building — propels each item into one of five bins, for reshelving or a truck en route to other libraries.
The sorting system, the first of its kind in Milwaukee County when it went live this month, is among the latest innovations in library operations — a smaller version of the complex material-handling systems that move luggage through airports and boxes through the massive distribution centers of UPS and FedEx.
Like many industries, public libraries are turning increasingly to automation to improve efficiency and lower costs. And while this forced job cuts in some communities, others say it has freed staff for more face-to-face work with patrons. (And this is indeed where the need is.)
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