Self-Check Has Arrived

Our new self-checkout stations have arrived and are being installed today. All this construction noise has sent moi fleeing out my special feline media door.  Thankfully, my minions snapped some photos (click images to bigify).

 Interior return drop slots are becoming automated

 Our new self-checkout stations are so easy,

even "Flat" Cauli V can do it

Flat Five at self-checkout station #3

Installation dudes make the necessary adjustments

 Self-checkout station #1 (at MPL Circulation Desk)

Self-checkout station #2 (at MPL Circulation Desk)

 CircMaster tests self-checkout #1

"How easy is that?  Just saying."

New RFID security gates

With self-checkout, patrons will be able to check-out items quickly and easily.  Although many of our patrons enjoy the social interaction between staff and visitors, others will prefer the convenience and speed self-checkout provides.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  All this construction noise reminded moi of "Boom Bang-a-Bang" (1969), by Lulu.  The song was the United Kingdom's entry in the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, and it captured a share of the four-way tie for first place.

April 16 is Self-Checkout Starter Day

Tuesday, April 16, 2013, is Self-Checkout Starter Day at my Library. That's when patrons may begin checking-out their own items without having to wait at the circulation desk.  Great for those in a hurry or who like to avoid interpersonal contact, like Scowl-Face.

Technigal, MPL assistant director, says that the new self-checkout stations will look like this:

Click Image to Bigify

These units are so easy to use--even a human can do it.  You simply place your Evergreen Indiana library card under the little laser light that shines down onto that white area on the bottom so it reads the bar code, then you follow the instructions from there.  I'd tell you what they are, but I haven't actually seen one of these bad dudes operating yet, so I'll wait until staff training on Monday, April 15.  Meanwhile, we'll probably have some helpful videos uploaded to our website somewhere (or our YouTube Channel) closer to launch day.  Nothing has been filmed yet.  We won't even have the self-checkout stations installed until around the fifteenth or thereabouts. So perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves here.  Still, better informed than not, I'll venture.

You'll like this new system--trust moi.  If there's one thing we felines truly appreciate, it's being self-sufficient.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  "Check It Out," by Hoosier John Mellencamp, appeared on the album The Lonesome Jubilee (1987).  Bet he wasn't thinking of our high-tech gizmo, but maybe.  Who knows?  Here's the official music video for the song (1987).

Check Yourselves Out

My Library's patrons will soon be checking themselves out, but not in that creepy narcissistic way.

Not the Type of Self-Checkout I Meant

MPL will soon be installing a new radio-frequency identification (RFID) system for all materials.  With the new equipment, patrons will be able to check items out themselves quickly and easily.  Although I have only seen blurry images of the new self-checkout stations in the staff break room, it looked something like this.

C-3PO, It's Not

Let's try that again.

A Typical Patron Self-Checkout Station

Used in Public Libraries

There will be some structural modifications to MPL's floor-plan with this new technology.  There will be three patron self-checkout stations, with a single staff-assisted checkout at the Circulation Desk.  Many return items will be automatically checked-in and sorted by some sort of conveyor apparatus.  The arrangement might be comparable to this artist's rendering.

Click Images to Bigify

Then again, the layout might look totally different.  How would I know?  I don't do facilities renovation meetings, or any other kinds of meetings, for that matter.

Whatever changes appear with the new RFID system, it should be a vast improvement over the dinosaur we're currently using.  It was cutting edge a decade ago, but now it's just plain old and cranky, like Scowl-Face, but with better fashion sense.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  "Computer Scans," by Giuseppe, appeared on a self-titled CD (2007), so far as I can tell from the group's MySpace page.  Click here to listen to the song on MySpace.  Or click back there on the song title.  It's your call. The band's last live performance was in 2009, apparently.  That always makes me sad.