From: Jamie Doil, O’Fallon Public Library

Is your library experiencing long lines at the circulation desk? Especially at closing time? Here is a possible solution that we have implemented at the O’Fallon Public Library.

We recently purchased two self-checkout stations to give patrons an alternative to waiting in line at the circulation desk. Of almost equal concern was the increasing daily stress on the circulation desk staff. Bear in mind that this solution is kind of pricey, but more on that later.

Molly Scanlan, our director, investigated the various systems available, and narrowed the choice down to 3M. Each of the two systems that we purchased are composed of an hp rp5700 workstation, running MS Vista, a 3M Model 9410 Selfcheck touch-screen monitor, and an ithara iTherm 280 printer. The monitor has a bar-code scanner attached to it. We purchased a 72″ x 30″ table for the stations to sit on. We also had to purchase two SIP2 licenses from III. Once the 3M technician set up the equipment and connected them to Millennium, he removed the keyboards and mice. A nice touch in reducing the number of things a patron can mess with.

The check-out process is pretty straight-forward; the patron is first asked to slide their library card under the scanner. If the patron is in good standing (card not expired, fines less than $2.00, etc.), they are then asked to scan the barcodes on the items to be checked out. After the last item is scanned, the patron touches the print receipt button on the screen and the thermal printer prints out the list of items and their due-dates.

If anything unusual occurs during this process, such as a fine of over $2.00, the patron is directed to the circulation desk.

So far, use of the self-checkouts has been excellent, with 492 patrons checking out 1,766 items in the last two months (yes, the system does track stats).

Now for the bad news:

As I mentioned above, these systems are not what you would call cheap. The hardware for each system was $12,274. Installation cost was $1,484 and the service agreement was $2,176 for both systems. And the two SIP licenses were $2,500 each.

If you are interested in these systems, you are welcome to come visit to watch them in use. Our point of contact at 3M is Matt Bellemany, who can be reached at 800 328-0067, ext. 33.

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