Cedar Rapids library tests out automated check-in system

There's a window next to the book drop in the entrance of the Cedar Rapids Public Library at the Westdale Mall so passers-by can look in and watch workers check-in books as they are returned.

Starting this week, there's only one worker back there - the library's new automated check-in system.

The conveyor belt-based system was purchased by the library using funds from a $500,000 federal grant to replace its radio frequency identification system that was damaged during the 2008 flood. The original system didn't have a check-in component, making this  new territory for Cedar Rapids.

The system is fairly straightforward. Items dropped in the book drop slot run along a conveyor belt through a scanner, which uses the same radio frequency identification tags as the library's self-checkout system to check in the item. It then uses information in the library's database to determine whether or not it is a book, audiobook or DVD and to what section it belongs. The item continues along the belt and falls into a sorted bin for the part of the library where it will be re-shelved.

Automating this process allows Cedar Rapids librarians to gain back a large chunk of their time normally spent checking in books, according to library spokeswoman Amber Mussman.

“Instead of having our staff back in the behind-the-scenes area, they can now do more things,” she said. “They can be out and work with the public more and work toward our mission more.”

Mussman also said the system helped reduce the danger of repetitive motion injuries, something library staff have dealt with in the past.

The new procedure is serving as a dry run for installing a similar system once construction is completed at the library's new downtown location. The Westdale Mall branch's system is permanent and cannot be moved, but Mussman said it will help them see what a similar setup at the new library would require.

“It allows us to test it and see what we like and don't like,” she said. “If there's a product that's more effective, then we can go with that in our new building.”

The Cedar Rapids library system has the second-largest circulation in Iowa. The number one library in circulation, Iowa City, does not have an automated check-in system, although it does have self-checkout stations.

Iowa City library Director Susan Craig said she wasn't ready to let a conveyor belt take over check-ins just yet.

“They've gotten better over the years, and I wouldn't rule it out. Just not right now,” she said.

Craig said the Iowa City library cuts down on librarians' time spent checking-in books by having the job done primarily by library volunteers.