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3/27/2006

Unofficial Self Check-Out Survey

Thanks to the excellent work of fellow staff member Julie Cross, I now have good stats to point to for our Library's budget request to expand self check-out services. Julie surveyed other public library systems of similar size (total of 43 from the Urban Library Council) and gathered these results:

  • 81% (38 library systems) are currently offering self check services in some form.
  • Of the 38 offering it, only 6 libraries have it at every branch location (Columbus Metro Library, OH; Gwinnett County Public Library, GA; Nashville Public Library, TN; San Jose Public Library, CA; Seattle Public Library, WA; Tucson-Pima Public Library, AZ).
  • Of the eight not offering it, 4 were currently considering it.
  • 49% (17 of t35) of libraries that offer it have self-checkout in over half of their branch locations.
  • 71% (25 of 35) of the libraries that offer it have self-checkout in more than a quarter of their branch locations.
  • 57% (20 of 35) have it have been offering self-checkout in some capacity since the 1990s.
  • 43% (15 of 35) mentioned plans to expand self-checkout services, even as early as this year.

BTW: If you're curious PLCMC currently offers Express Check (our installation of TechLogic's solution also offers the ability to pay for fines & rental fees with credit/debit) at two locations. Our hope is to secure funding that will allow us to expand it to all twenty-four locations next year. ** Fingers Crossed **

And here's even short video created by our awesome Web Services team. :) (Sorry, it doesn't show the credit/debit swipper which is flush with the desk and just off to the right of the barcode scanner)


PS: Thanks Julie, You're a GEM !!!

PPS: Yup! I just had to play around a bit with YouTube to see how easy it is... and posting this little video gave me the opportunity I needed. :)

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice video. I love the fun, retro background music. =)

Anonymous said...

Does Bossa Nova come standard with self-checkout? Love it!

Seriosuly, great job with the video. I really does show how easy self-checkout is, and takes away many of the "unknowns" like "How much time does it save?" and "Will it be easy?" and so on. This is something we could use to educate staff and patrons.

Anonymous said...

Did Web Services also create the self checkout interface?
It looks really clean and easy to use. Good Job!

HeleneB said...

For those interested ... the interfacte is TechLogic's default design. We haven't done anything fancy with it yet -- but perhaps later :)