Pioneering the way – The National University of Ireland Maynooth implements new self-service facility from 3M in its library   

The John Paul II Library, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, has implemented a significant and exciting programme of change in recognition of the evolving needs of its users. Pivotal to the success of the Library’s on-going development has been a total conversion to self-service with SelfCheck equipment from 3M, the diversified technology company. The investment has already helped staff deliver a new model of service that reflects the requirements of today’s academic library user and will be a key factor in moving to the very different library service of the future.

Outlining the reasons behind this innovation, Elizabeth Murphy, Head of Reader Services explained, “We are the first library in Ireland to move towards total self-service and we are very satisfied with our decision. We knew from user feedback that they wanted more staff on the floors to assist with enquiries. In addition, circulation statistics over the last two years were decreasing. Based on our experience with self-service to date, if you have staff available to process loans and returns then users are naturally going to gravitate towards this staffed service. To free up staff time and enable them to provide more roving assistance, we concluded that self-service was a viable solution. After consultations with staff and the library management team, the proposal was accepted. We tendered for two new self-service machines and funding was secured in February 2007.”

Elizabeth continued, “We had been very keen on ‘desktop’ machines but they were only available for RFID technology. We visited another library that had installed the 3M V-Series machines and were very impressed. In the end, we favoured the 3M SelfCheck equipment. The decision was based on trade-in value, good service record, pricing and functionality.”

Making it work

Elizabeth explained, “If people needed help checking out books or other media, a member of staff would assist them at the machines rather than issuing at the desk. We also took care to market the new service with an exciting promotional programme. This included information about the new system in the campus newsletter, on the library website and on the VLE and we organised a ‘Check it Out’ prize draw to win an MP3 player, which was kindly sponsored by 3M. All this helped to engage users right from the start.”

A superb result

Although the planning and execution of the redevelopment programme has been very time intensive, Elizabeth believes that the service offering has significantly improved and that library staff and users appreciate the change. “It is still evolving,” she says, “but we believe that a gentle, reactive transformation allows us greater flexibility in overcoming the challenges. Feedback from users has been positive overall and they are particularly pleased with the other self-service facilities on the machines, such as checking their own records. This service has greatly enhanced our out-of-hours (non-serviced) facilities.”

A global leader in library innovation for more than 35 years, 3M provides RFID, security, productivity and information management solutions that harness technology to enable librarians to spend more time doing what they do best – helping people. 3M also partners with libraries to support their technological advancement and ensure their success through numerous industry sponsorships and programmes. For more information about the 3M Library Systems solutions, visit www.3M.com/uk/library.