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Upcoming Service Improvements at Your Library

Beginning this fall, your library is implementing several initiatives designed to increase staff efficiency, enhance the security of library materials, and, most importantly, make it even easier for you to use the library. Although most of the work will happen behind the scenes, you’ll see some visible changes in the months to come.

What’s happening this year? 

At Central Library, five interrelated efforts will be underway from September through December 2009. 

Why is this happening?

In the last 10 years, use of your library has increased explosively. Checkouts and renewals have more than doubled, and holds have more than tripled. Here in Multnomah County, you and other library patrons check out or return more than 51,000 items a day. 

To handle such high use, your library is continually exploring smarter and more efficient ways to check materials in and out, move holds through the system, and ensure that items in the collection are protected from theft. The use of RFID technology will make it possible to achieve all these goals, and was recommended earlier this year by the citizen-led Access Policy Advisory Committee of the Multnomah County Library Advisory Board. 

What is RFID and how does it work?

Radio frequency identification is a method of remotely storing and retrieving data using devices called tags that can be attached to a product. RFID tags contain antennae to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transmitter/receiver. RFID tags are used for a wide variety of purposes, including employee ID badges for businesses and government agencies, personal identification, and inventory control in retail settings.

RFID has been successfully used to streamline work in libraries in Asia, Europe and North America for over a decade. In the U.S., you’ll find RFID-tagged collections in libraries in Seattle, Eugene, Fresno, Salt Lake County and dozens of other communities. RFID use in libraries is safe and maintains the privacy of patron records. Learn more about how RFID works in a library setting.

What are the benefits of RFID?

Improved theft prevention and collection management. RFID tags will double as security tags for the library’s new theft detection system. A study at Salt Lake County Library showed that RFID tags were more effective in preventing theft than the magnetic strips that have typically been used in the past. In addition, RFID technology makes it easier to locate items that are on hold, missing or misshelved. With RFID, library staff can conduct periodic inventories that would otherwise be too labor intensive to undertake, thus enabling better stewardship of the collection.

Speedier processing of library materials — and healthier staff. A study by one library showed that items with RFID tags require 80 percent less handling than items with a barcode and a magnetic security strip. With RFID, items move faster through the system because multiple items can often be checked in or out as a group rather than individually. This not only makes materials available to patrons more quickly, it also lowers the incidence of repetitive stress injury (such as hand, wrist or shoulder pain) among the workers who handle library materials daily. In the future, RFID offers the potential to automate other manual tasks (such as sorting) to improve efficiency even further.

Easier checkout. Many library patrons prefer the speed, convenience and privacy of checking out their own materials, and RFID makes checkout even better. The latest RFID-enabled checkout machines allow users to renew materials, check the status of holds and pay charges on their accounts. High self-check rates are common in libraries with RFID, and library staff can still help you when you need it, while also handling increasing workloads.

What happens after the first phase of these activities is completed?

In 2010, the project will expand to include the whole library system. RFID tags will be installed in materials in the closed stacks at Central Library, and the 16 existing neighborhood libraries will also be converted to RFID and equipped with RFID checkout stations. The new Troutdale and Kenton libraries will open in early 2010 with this new technology in place.

Will there be any service interruptions during the transition?

There may be some service interruptions during the transition. For example, some parts of the library’s collection will be unavailable for short periods of time as they are RFID tagged, and access to self-check may be limited on a short-term basis as each library transitions to the new machines.