Check It Out

Ken Lewis loves his library.

It provides him with hours of free, quality entertainment every week. He would never steal from the library, depriving other patrons of the chance to enjoy the materials paid for with their tax dollars.

But steal he did. And he didn't even know it.

Before you bookworms and lovers of justice start calling for Lewis' head -- or his library card -- you should know Lewis plans to return the pilfered goods.

He didn't mean to take the compact disc from the West Las Vegas Library on a recent Thursday. He thought he checked it out, along with eight other items he borrowed that day. Sadly, Lewis was the victim of technology.

Call it one of the pitfalls of being your own librarian.

Lewis, along with every other patron of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's 12 urban branches, is or soon will be responsible for checking out his own materials via newly installed self-check kiosks.

He has to demagnetize books. Unlock DVD cases. Remove CDs from their anti-theft devices. Then, he has to scan the bar codes into the library's computer system, all as if he worked the circulation desk.

His duties don't stop there. When Lewis returns his materials, he also has to check them back in.

This self-check stuff is all part of a grand plan to turn the district's urban branches into libraries of the future with technology that even a 6-year-old can utilize.

It is, Lewis says, "very cool."

The self-check movement was launched in 2006 and should be completed by the end of June, says Robb Morss, deputy director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. The new Centennial Hills library, which opened earlier this month, features all of the new technology. The West Las Vegas branch has been remodeled; the other libraries are on various completion schedules.

The $9 million project includes the redesign of 12 circulation desks and installation of self-check kiosks as well as the new radio frequency identification system. RFID, as it's called, is supposed to make it harder to steal library materials while simplifying borrowing, returning, reshelving and transferring between branches.

The library has become a popular place over the past 10 years, with circulation growing from 5.5 million items to more than 12 million items last year, Morss says.

Every day, more than 80,000 items move through the library system, says Executive Director Daniel Walters, while 4 million items move among the branches each year.

The growth brought with it larger crowds and longer lines in libraries around the valley; often people waited half an hour in line just to check something out. The increased foot traffic and demands on the system made district officials think about ways to become more efficient, Morss adds.

Enter self-check kiosks.

"The cost of providing services in the service sector is high," Walters notes. "What can be moved to customers will reduce costs."

Walters admits a lot of people don't like or won't embrace self-service, whether it's at the airport, the grocery store or the library. But the RFID technology makes the process as painless as possible, he says. All a patron has to do is scan his card, enter his PIN number and place his materials on the counter. That's it.

Antennas installed under the kiosk counters automatically scan the items into the patron's account and demagnetizes them at the same time. If someone has late fees, he or she also can pay them while checking out. Patrons won't be completely on their own, because library employees will be standing by to guide them through the process if necessary.

The RFID will simplify the return of items, too, Walters says. A customer simply places an item in the return bin. The item's identifying code is read by the RFID system, allowing the computer to automatically check it in. It then travels along a conveyor belt and is sorted into the appropriate bin for return to the shelf or another library.

"We can't expect to give good quality service between branches by having people move things around," Walters says.

The automation of the libraries will save money, because the district won't have to increase staffing levels, he says. There are no plans to reduce staff; the library district employs about 700 people, including seven couriers who transfer materials among branches.

Those employees who were responsible for checking out materials and limited to helping only one customer at a time will now oversee several self-check kiosks and help patrons on the floor. The kiosks will reduce long lines, because service won't be dependent upon a staff person, Walters says; that is, as long as the technology cooperates.

As illustrated by Lewis' experience, the technology doesn't always cooperate.

This sort of thing can happen, Morss says, but the majority of people are honest and will return the library's materials. Each year, the district loses about 2 percent of its materials from its 2 million-item collection, but that also includes misshelved items, he adds.

Lewis did everything he was supposed to do at the self-check kiosk. As he scanned his items, the computer beeped its acceptance of the bar code. But it also beeps when it encounters a problem, so when he scanned a CD and the computer screen showed the message "this item cannot be checked out" Lewis didn't see it. He was concentrating on opening, scanning and stacking his CDs and DVDs. The contraband CD made it into his small pile of stuff.

He had second thoughts about one of the DVDs he checked out and decided to put it in the return bin. When he logged out and took his receipt, he counted his items. The numbers matched. He never realized the items didn't.

Though it was demagnetized and wouldn't set off the alarm, Lewis still had to go through the last part of the safety net before leaving the library: the security guard at the door.

On his way out of the library, Lewis handed over his items and receipt to the security guard. She counted the items then looked at the receipt. The numbers matched. Lewis made his getaway.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.