New SelfCheck kiosks begin to arrive in Irish libraries

19 Sep 2013

Aisling Murphy, 3M library account manager, and Claire McNally from National Adult Literacy Agency. Photo by Conor McCabe Photography

Technology company 3M has installed the first of a new generation of RFID-based SelfCheck library kiosks, starting with four in Deansgrange library in Dublin.

3M’s RFID technology allows items to be quickly identified by RFID tags that are guaranteed to last the lifetime of the item.  

The kiosks, which recently made their debut in Deansgrange Library in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, will be making their way into libraries throughout Ireland, including Public and Academic libraries within the coming months.

A high resolution 22-inch LCD touchscreen, scanners that read both barcode and smart card formats and integrated chip and pin payment options make checking books in and out as well as renewing loans straight-forward and quick.

A spokesman said that four of the new kiosks are going into Deansgrange library but said that as it is a tender business as the moment and too early to say how many will be installed throughout Ireland.

“For the last five years 3M have placed on average 30 of the first generation kiosks per year into different libraries throughout the country and 3M envisage that sales of the second generation kiosks will be similar,” the spokesman said.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com