Our self checkout project is well underway and we’re in the middle of preparing the collection for our go-live date in September. You might have been to our book sale earlier this year, or maybe you’ve seen staff and volunteers weeding old items out of the collection. Now we’re up to the tagging stage.

When we launch self checkout in September, the equipment we use to scan items will change. Instead of using scanners to read the barcode on the back of a book or DVD, special pads on our new self checkout kiosks will detect the information on an RFID tag that will be attached to each item. This equipment can scan multiple items at a time, so checking your books out will be much quicker!

Here’s what we’ve been doing with each item that needs an RFID tag:

1. We scan the item at one of our Tagging Stations
2. The printer creates a unique RFID tag for the item
3. The label is attached inside the cover
4. Only 119,999 to go!

We’re hoping to get everything in the collection tagged over the next 7 weeks. We’ve just started on the magazine section – if you need anything from an area we’re working in, just ask and we’ll help you find what you need.