The city has been adding a credit card feature to allow payment of overdue fines directly at the machines.
The goal of the $1.6 million project is to eliminate long lines, free workers up for other tasks and make inventory more efficient and accurate.
Library officials said usage rates at the branches have averaged more than 80 percent. Patrons reluctant to use the new technology can still check out their items in the traditional way with a library worker.
“Our main objective is to enhance our customer service,” said Misty Jones, head of the city’s library system. “The self-check machines are simple to use and allow our staff to focus more time on helping patrons with library materials or developing new, innovative programs to serve our diverse communities.”
While no positions have been eliminated, the new technology could eventually allow the library system to shrink its staff. The kiosks could also allow branches to stay open more hours with the same personnel.
The kiosks include a feature allowing library patrons to get a list of other recommended books or videos based on what they’ve previously checked out.
The installation, which began in December and ended last month, included adding enhanced security gates at several branches. Staffers also tagged approximately 2.6 million library materials with radio frequency identification microchips, replacing the bar codes previously used to track items.
Officials say many people with illnesses or language barriers prefer the kiosks to checking items out with a library worker. The kiosks allow transactions in 27 different languages.
The roughly $1.6 million upgrade is being paid for with a $1.16 million California State Library grant and $467,000 in donations to the library’s “matching equipment fund.”
Usage of San Diego’s libraries has increased 20 percent over the last five years. Library use among millennials is relatively high because of advanced technologies like 3D printers and free courses in complex subjects including computer coding and virtual reality, according to a recent Pew Research Center report.
Self-checkout kiosks are becoming increasingly common at large library systems in many parts of the country. But they are less common in smaller library systems and more rural areas.
©2017 The San Diego Union-Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
