Seattle Public Library and RFID
I’ve finally been to the new, internationally acclaimed, Seattle Public Library. I’ve been a few times, checked out and returned books. Since everyone so far has offered glowing reviews, I’ll focus on the things I don’t like about the library.
First, there are three elevators, and 10 or more floors. The elevators are the only way to get up and down from parking garage. There are no stairs. This is hostile to a healthy lifestyle, and the elevators take forever to arrive (and are invariably crowded). The elevators on upper levels have status lights to tell you which floor the elevator is on, but not in the parking garage.
Next, there are several places where perfectly passable spaces are blocked off by shin-level railings. This could be dangerous or painful. There are crotch-level railings, too. Other places, the walls bend and curve and make it easy to bump your head. The fourth level is painted an angry red; and has lumpy walls of sheetmetal which, though perhaps ?artistic?, are unnecessary and claustrophobic. Reading areas are exposed to major throughfares, and completely unprotected from noisythrongs of people and tour guides.
The checkout process is a step in the right direction, but stops a bit short. The books are tagged with RFID, which allows the computer to detect all of the books you have almost magically. However, you still need to scan your library card with barcode scanner, which kind of defeats the purpose of RFID. If the library card were RFID, you could just walk out of the library and have the checkout process happen automatically; without having to stop and pull out any cards, set down the books, etc.For book returns, you can drop your books in a conveyor belt, and the machineuses the RFID to record that you have returned the book and route to the appropriate reshelving station. However, the process only works with about half of the books, so it can take anywhere from 1 minute to 10 hours before the system recognizes your return.