Behind the Scenes at Wescott Library

Wescott Library Circulation Manager Barbara Hanson has seen a lot of changes in her 25 years working at Wescott Library, having started her career back in the days when books were checked out by microfilming the cards stored in pockets in the front of books. 

The latest changes include the installation of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system. While a lot of what goes on at the library is still manual, the county library's new RFID system eliminates a large portion of that human intervention.

Wescott Library has long had a conveyor system that would drop returned items into large bins. Those items then had to be manually checked in and sorted onto shelves based on their location in the library. 

The completion of a grueling 4-month project to put RFID tags in or on all of the library's materials has culminated in a significantly streamlined book return process.

The Dakota County Library system was fully enabled with RFID technology sometime in mid-June. Westcott was one of the first branches to complete the daunting task. 

Hanson says, "the process is amazing and it is exciting to see what this has done for us. RFID was well worth the effort."

When a returned book is placed on the belt within the library, or into the outdoor collection box, the conveyor starts up and the RFID system takes over. 

As materials roll over an RFID reader, the item is immediately removed from the library patron's record. Based on the type of item - for example, adult fiction books, children's books or movies - are routed and dropped into corresponding bins.

The bin system, essentially, is a pre-sort so items can be placed on shelving carts without needing to be manually categorize first.

Materials belonging to other Dakota County Library branches drop into a bin near a wall of crates, one for each branch, to be quickly sorted and shipped. 

Items that have to be manually handled include books for which there is a hold, the few items that still need RFID tags, or materials the RFID reader was unable to identify for various reasons. 

After items are returned, the library's computer system allows a pre-determined number of hours for reshelving and then automatically updates the item's location so patrons know it is available to be checked out. 

Hanson confirmed that the new system has decreased payroll costs. More importantly, it allows the library to get materials back into the hands of patrons much more quickly and efficiently.

Wescott Library by the numbers:

• 2,000 to 3,000 items are returned each day
• in June, 74,349 items were checked out
• There were over 4,300 items with holds processed in July
• 95% of materials are checked out via the self-check computers