July 30, 2007
Does Self-Checkout Make Libraries Less Friendly?
Back when Seattlest lived in Wallingford, we went to the Fremont branch of the library once a week. We got to know the staff there very well -- hi, Carl! Hi, Joan! Hi, Betty! We served as one of two citizens on the committee that picked the architectural firm that handled the branch's remodel.
While Fremont was closed for construction, we switched our regular patronage to the University branch. It's bigger than Fremont, and worked fine, but we never really got to know the staff there.
Before the Fremont branch reopened, we moved to Wedgwood and started using the North East Branch as our regular library. North East, so we've heard, is the busiest branch in the system. And we liked it fine -- plenty of hubbub -- but again, we never got to know the staff. We recognized them, and when we spoke to them they were friendly, but none of them seemed to remember us.
And now we're at Rainier Beach, a branch that (small exceptions aside) feels warmer than any branch we've used since Fremont. But even here, we don't feel as connected to the staff. We come in, get our books, help Little Miss Seattlest explore the kids' section, and leave.
Perhaps this will change over time. Perhaps we have changed, and become less friendly. Perhaps Fremont was an exceptional branch.
But we have a theory: self-checkout has made the libraries less friendly.
Our evidence: right around the time we switched to the University branch, self-checkout appeared in the library. There were hitches -- we had a particularly memorable experience where it took us 10 minutes and the help of two staff members to check out seven pieces of library material. But self-checkout improved, and we no longer got to chat with librarians or staff members as they scanned our books.
Now, with self-checkout, we can frequently get through an entire library visit without interacting with any library staff member. Unless anti-theft bits don't turn off, or we're picking up a DVD, in which case we have to flag a staff member to resolve the issue for us.
Without that interactivity, we don't get to know the staff, and the staff doesn't get to know us. They're not themselves unfriendly, but they're by necessity less social, less conversational, more multitask-oriented.
Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone else find self-checkout a mixed blessing, at best?
(We don't mean to pick on the library. Really, we love the library, even when it shushes us. But it's the things we love that earn our attention.)
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
[ report this ]
I was at a recent round-table talk put together by the ACLU with one of the heads of the Seattle Public Library in attendance. The librarian pointed out that the self-checkout kiosks were nice because they allowed a certain amount on privacy for patrons who might otherwise be uncomfortable checking out certain books in front of another person. Not something I'd thought of before.
I feel like the bigger issue is that most people use SPL like Netflix for books. It's very rare that you can actually go into a library and find a book, because face it there just aren't enough in circulation. Instead, you put a book on hold along with a hundred other people, and only go to the library when your hold finally comes through. Not as conducive to just hanging out and browsing.
[ report this ]
I don't think I'd get rid of self-checkout, but I do feel like there's a tradeoff.
"Netflix for books" is a good line. I used to spend a lot more time browsing the shelves -- my weekly ritual was to return books, pick up holds, check the new book shelves, wander through my favorite parts of the regular stacks, search for anything in particular I wanted, then check out.
Now I'm picking up holds, then hanging out in the kids' section picking out picture books and keeping my daughter from banging on keyboards.
Maybe it's a combination of self-checkout and having a kid...
[ report this ]
I like when there's an option, like at the grocery store. Sometimes I want the personal touch, but sometimes I just want to get out of there. So having self-checkout kiosks AND clerks is probably the best compromise.
[ report this ]
The library has always been Netflix for books for me, but that was primarily because the Queen Anne branch, currently closed for renovations, is/was small enough that browsing anything beyond the New Arrivals shelves was something of an exercise in futility. You could look over the Science Fiction section or the cookbooks and know that the selection would be more or less static, while looking things up online was dynamic and could get you exactly what you wanted without wandering across town.
That said, I knew the librarians there, even after they switched to the self-serve system. Hell, I even wrote a letter of recommendation for one of them when she was applying to grad school! That could be the saving grace for a truly crappy day.
But with that branch being closed (for now), I go to Ballard to make my library runs and I don't talk to anyone there unless I have to update something or something went wrong with the checkout system, and I really miss that. It's efficient, but I actually like talking about vacations and books read and plans for the weekend.
[ report this ]
As a librarian, I have to say I think the self-checkout machines are a necessary evil. I agree with the post which made the connection to the supermarket option of self or human assisted checkout. It's nice to have a choice. What annoys me at any self-checkout machine are people who don't know how to use it and then tie up the line. Then, I envision the library desk staff forced to abandon the check-out area to fix the self-checkout machine. Anyway, I like them and don't mind using them...but the human touch is also nice to have at times as well. I do not work at a public library, so my opinion may not necessarily reflect someone who works in that environment.
[ report this ]
Personally, I love not having to talk to anybody to pick up my Bookflix. I'm usually on my way somewhere else anyway, I've decided what books I wanted weeks and weeks ago, and if I have anything I need help with, I'll ask. I'm just waiting for the day they actually go full-flix and mail the books to me instead of me having to go get them. I go to the Wallingford branch to pick up my books, and it's way too small to be of any use for just browsing the shelves.
[ report this ]
I suspect that even with self-checkout, if I were still going to the Fremont branch, I'd still be exchanging the occasional chit-chat with the staff there, since I already knew them.
I use self-checkout all the time, and mostly I like it. I seem to encounter security tags that don't turn off at least every other week, so I wish the system worked a little better (though it's pretty good, no question, and much improved over the first couple of months).
And no branch I've been to has installed a good system for letting the staff know you've got DVDs or other holds that they have to get for you. It's the "catch their eye and say excuse me" method right now. That's OK, but I don't want to interrupt when another patron is being helped, but I don't want to tie up the checkout scanner for too long, either.
[ report this ]
I love self-checkout but the security does not turn off half of the time. I like that I can reserve my cds/books/dvds online, get an e-mail when they're in, run in, use self-checkout and be outta there quick. I don't like talking to people unless I need help. SHHH and leave me alone!
[ report this ]
I think it is a choice you make; I frequent the Columbia City and the Sojourner-Truth libraries and often talk with the librarians, it just involves me making the effort to ask a question or make a comment. Thinking back, I never really talked to the librarians while checking out my books anyway, instead I would talk to them when asking for their help, looking for a recommendation, or sharing a recommendation I had.
[ report this ]
Don't get me wrong, i enjoy the self-checkout options of the grocery stores I frequent, and will use them when I see incredibly huge lines, but then again, if they put in additional checkout lanes with people at them I may frequent those just as much.
In terms of saving time and money? Has anyone done a serious cost/benefit analysis on this? Including the wages of the employee who has to sit near the machine and troubleshoot (you have to pay them or get a poor volunteer to help out), and then pay for the machine lease, the peripherals that you don't think about, but in the end up having to pay for, the service contracts, the electricity etc...So what happen to the savings in time and staffing?
What I also find about self-check out in libraries is that staff at the circulation/check out desk are now only utilized to help out with problems or complaints. Going to the circ desk is now never seen as a positive thing, it is the last-resort, "scary desk". You only go there when the self-checkout machine is out of order or for complaints. So it's no longer a positive experience for either the library user OR the employee. ouch!
And how has self-check out dealt with identity theft or stolen cards? We have IDs with pictures on them and our employees will do a quick check. What do the self check-out machines do? I read that some places have PIN numbers. The public library I frequent never asked me for one. So gosh someone out there could theoretically check out books using my ID! Most thieves wouldn't bother with check out, but you know, that concern is out there.
Finally, to all the shy/quiet types who don't like interacting with people at a desk. As former, shy/quiet person, my words of wisdom are this: It is a far better situation to deal with the people at a desk than to have to deal in a situation where the self-checkout machine croaks on you and then you are even more embarrassed. Nothing kills your self-esteem more than having to report that a machine blew up that you last touched.
So, with all these concerns rolling and mulling about in my skull, I am going to ride out the self-checkout trend and see what other options will appear in the next few years.