Wuppertal City Library Doesn't Just Entice You In To You Read Books
As of May 6 2011, media items from Wuppertal Central Library/Germany are now checked and secured via the BiblioChip System. Back in April, Barmen City Library celebrated its reopening after renovation work, complete with its new RFID system. Elberfeld Bücherschiff library in Wuppertal started converting its 30,000 items of media back in 2009, and has been using two SelfChecks and a BiblioGate VI since the beginning of 2010.
"The response to the pilot installation in the Bücherschiff library, our central library for children and young people, has been positive from the start, as children were immediately enthusiastic about the new technology and modern touch screens", explains Dagmar Hamacher, assistant head of Wuppertal City Library. Along with the central library, the software at the Bücherschiff library has been brought up to date, and now all three establishments use the BiblioCockpit System with the central management console and up to date software. Among other things, users can set their own type size, and the computer recognizes each user's settings automatically, making it very easy to use.
Dagmar Hamacher adds: "A decisive factor in the decision to opt for the BiblioChip RFID System was successful full integration into the Sisis Sunrise Library System. We wanted to exclude the possibility of any complications due to different software. Bibliotheca was able to deliver this all-in-one: from implementation to service and naturally the appropriate hardware." To consolidate its budgets, the library had to cut six jobs, keeping the same number of branches and the same opening hours. Conversion to RFID was a welcome solution in terms of staffing and costing policy.
With 380,000 items of media between them, the libraries boast a joint borrowing total of 1.5 million items per year. The table version of the BiblioSelfCheck Orion is used for borrowing and returns. As before, items of media are returned quickly to the shelves by hand, making everything available immediately after it is returned. In Wuppertal, any item of media can be returned to any library, and the same applies to borrowing - on request; this even applies to items of media at the branches that haven't been converted yet, where checking out is still done with barcodes in this transitional phase. All sites should be fully equipped with RFID by the end of the year.
About the library
The nine city libraries are important centers of city culture for the 348,000 residents of Wuppertal. Individual areas of the city extend far into the surrounding region. The central library has a long historical tradition. The listed building houses the Wuppertal Author Archive (Else-Lasker-Schüler etc.), which has high international status, and the Bergisch history society collection (the German history society with the most members). Electronic media also plays a major role, including the e-media offering (Bergisch e-media) and "International press online".
SOURCE: Bibliotheca RFID Library Systems AG