Brave new chapter begins at library
Jane Chilton , library cluster manager, with the new self-service machine.
NEW futuristic machines have been unveiled at the Littlehampton Library which could, potentially, alter the way library services in the town work, permanently.
A gleaming set of self-service machines have been installed in the library, in Maltravers Road, as part of a county-wide roll-out of the equipment.
Since being installed, the library has seen a dramatic increase in the number of books and DVDs being hired – something which cluster manager Jane Chilton feels is directly linked to the new self-service machines.
Jane said: “Issues have soared through the roof since we got them.
“We’ve had about 2,800 books taken out during the first week alone, which is about 300 more than usual for this time of year.
“It’s been fantastic to see. The new self-service facilities help to free up staff to work on the shop floor.
“They make us more approachable and give us the opportunity to get stuck into different aspects of library services.
“The machines are very simple to use. You can return books, find out when your books are due in, what outstanding books or payments you have. They’re fantastic pieces of equipment.”
Jane added that about 95 per cent of customers coming into the library felt that the new self-service terminals were a great addition.
There have been concerns that introducing self-service machines like this could potentially put library jobs at risk.
However, Jane said: “All libraries have had to make cutbacks in staff.
“We have done that naturally through people retiring and then not being replaced. We have not lost people.
“But in the scheme of things the county council has got to make savings and one way of doing that is by installing these machines.
“This is just another evolutionary step in library services.”
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
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Lord Larry
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 06:43 PMCompletely agree Alan. Soon no one will talk to anyone. You will simply just push buttons on machines. Computers will do all the thinking and make all the decisions for us. How boring!
Alan Wylie
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 08:36 PMSelf-service technology is installed in libraries for one reason and one reason only and that is to cut staff and save money. Where's the research that shows that it improves the user experience? Contact with knowledgeable professional staff adds value this doesn't! And to claim that “This is just another evolutionary step in library services.” and that it frees up staff to do other things is dishonest and not the story that i've heard from library staff up and down the country!
Shirley Burnham
Friday, January 20, 2012 at 03:45 PMIt is excellent that issues have recently increased, but I am sure Jane is underplaying the importance of library staff to the user. . "Freeing up library staff to work on the shop floor" is often a precursor to there being no professional human in the library with whom to interact at all. A machine cannot welcome you, does not know your reading tastes, cannot answer your queries, cannot run a story-time session, a homework club or a reading group. . No 'cluster manager' should underestimate how much paid frontline staff contribute to the health of a library. Everything possible must be done to retain them, by making savings in the back office if needs be, or by ensuring that cuts to Libraries in the whole budget are not disproportionate. May your "shop floor" continue to be populated by excellent staff. That is what makes a library a "library" and not just a room with books in it.
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