WVU Libraries

Your next trip to the library might be a little quicker. New self-checkout stations at the Downtown Campus and Evansdale libraries allow users to avoid long lines when checking out materials.

This new option, 3M’s SelfCheck, is similar to using a self-checkout at the grocery store. Simply touch the screen and animated instructions guide you through the process.

“It’s a nice alternative for those days when the lines are two or three people deep and you just need to check out a book,” said Mary Strife, Evansdale Library Director and circulation policy committee chair. “This is a fast way to get it done and go.”

Upon touching the screen, the user is prompted to swipe his WVU ID card and to pass the selected book’s barcode under the scanner’s red beam. A clicking noise means the process is complete.

The user can either check out another book or end the transaction. When done, the station prints a date-due receipt. Retrieving and keeping the receipt is important because a due date will not be stamped inside the book, said Carroll Wilkinson, Head of Access Services for the Downtown Campus Library.

The system works with all library materials except bound journals and items from media services. Those resources require the traditional trip to the Access Services Desk. Also, the system directs anyone with a library fine to Access Services to clear the matter before checking out a book.

Plans call for the new Health Science Library to have a SelfCheck system when it opens it doors in January 2007.