Just in time for the summer rush, Chanhassen Public Library has a $250,000 automated material handling system to sort through checked-out materials as they’re returned.

Library CirculationsSupervisor Mary Wilson talked about how the system will be good for staff and library patrons. Click on the attached sound files to hear her.

What the new system means is less time before the items are back on the rack and ready to be checked out. And it means somebody who checked out the maximum number of DVDs can return them and then immediately go to check out more.

Conveyor Belt

Efficiency and ergonomics are two benefits library staff expect to get from the first system of its kind in a Carver County library system. The inside and outside return slots are designed to read the bar code on whatever item is returned, then direct the item along the conveyor belt to one of six sorting bins, including one for the occasional item that’s returned accidentally. The outside return slot even instructs patrons how to return an item correctly. If an item doesn’t have a bar code consistent with Carver County Library, it will go in the miscellaneous bin. The bins contain a level surface that sinks as items are added to it and rises as they’re removed.