The Auburn Public Library is set to release a new self-checkout system beginning May 2017.
This new system was made possible by a $50,000 Library Services and Technology act grant.
The grant will also fund RFID technology that will allow for better circulation services and collection management within the library.
The Auburn Public Library was selected through a competitive system by the Alabama Public Library System that specifically chooses who to fund based off of library usage and community needs.
The need to add the self-checkout system is not by chance because there has been a 40 percent increase in book, audiobook, DVD, ebook, and digital magazine checkouts in the 2015 fiscal year, library officials said.
As many as 300,000 sum books have been checked out from the Auburn Public Library within one year. Officials said the increase is due to the Auburn Public Library's new practice of proactive collection development, which includes selecting books people like and actually read compared to just stockpiling books collectively without a specific audience.
"Instead of just having to wait in line you can just check out books, DVD's, magazines, and audio books yourself," said Chris Warren, the director of the Auburn Public Library.
Using the new self-checkout system, staff will now have more time to help students and customers alike with more specific tasks, librarians said.
Instead of waiting in a line to check out, you can just go up to a machine, scan the book and check it out yourself.
The addition of the self-checkout system is to be used to best serve the public in to satisfy not only their thirst for reading, but to get it done as quick and easy as possible, officials said.
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