“We're really pleased with the success of the self-service units and their usage is steadily increasing each month."

Reading Borough Libraries

The Library

Reading Borough Libraries is comprised of seven libraries with an average total footfall of 12,000 patrons a week. Across the venues, Reading provides traditional services including book and media lending, WiFi, and computer access, alongside community events including children’s Rhymetime (which attracts a total in excess of 1000 attendees per week).

The Challenge

Reading Borough Libraries is not alone in its quest to provide maximum service
levels within a reduced budget. It has avoided library closures through smart management, including reduced opening hours and operational costs. Installing self-service units has enabled the team to divert resources to optimise service provision.

Customer Comments

Simon Smith, Library Services Manager, says: “We’re really pleased with the success of the self-service units and their usage is steadily increasing each month. At the moment take-up is 58%, with one site averaging a consistent 80%, which is great.

“The installation was carried out by two engineers over a period of three days. I was impressed by how responsive D-Tech were. Not just to us, but also to their engineers. We’d just installed a new library management system, and the kiosks are on the same network as our public computers, so D-Tech had to integrate the units with everything, but they met the challenge easily.

“D-Tech provides an excellent level of after sales service. As with any installation, particularly one that is integrated with several different systems, there were a few teething problems, but D-Tech responded quickly and would send someone out, generally within 24 hours.

“We are pleased with every aspect of D-Tech’s installation, and it is reassuring to know that we have invested in equipment that is supported by an excellent level of after-sales service and support.”

The Results

D-Tech International has installed sixteen self-service units across the libraries and will also be installing RFID security gates at Central Library. The self-service units have been integrated with the new library management system.