In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the world to slow to a stop. With it came the realization of the important role public libraries play in the community. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, public libraries were forced to close to the public while also navigating meeting their patrons’ and community’s needs (The Hunt Institute, 2021). If self-service libraries were a widespread model adopted by libraries across the US during the lockdowns, perhaps libraries would have been able to meet more of the community’s needs. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits of the self-service library became more evident and libraries started to seriously consider it as an option.
Self-service libraries are not a new concept. They have been popular in Europe for a while now, however, the US is still quite slow when it comes to incorporating self-service technology into their libraries. With concerns from the community regarding a potential loss of jobs for librarian staff, and concerns regarding library safety and security, libraries and communities are hesitant about adopting self-service library technology. Erin Adler wrote about early adopters of self-service libraries in the US in her article “Libraries without librarians? Twin Cities systems try it” for the Star Tribune. Various libraries in the Twin Cities area have tried the self-service library model with success. Self-service library hours adds to hours of operations without needing to hire staff to man these expanded hours.
Claire Zulkey’s article “Automatic for the People” in American Libraries expands on the history of self-service libraries and highlights one of the earliest pilots of the self-service library model at the Lawrenceville branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library, all the way back in 2016. The pilot was a resounding success and led to the technology being used at another branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. The expanded hours of operations as a result of the self-service library allowed for more patrons to be able to visit and use the library at times convenient to them. Zulkey also highlights the self-service library at the Yacolt Library Express branch of the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries in Vancouver, Washington. Trust in the community and working with the community to make the self-service library as safe as possible for patrons is essential for the self-service library model.
One notable example of a public library system that has implemented self-service library hours for two of its branches is the Santa Monica Public Library. The Santa Monica Public Library has implemented these self-service hours as a result of a grant from the state of California and in partnership with Bibliotheca, LLC. Bibliotheca is the company behind Open+, the technology system that many libraries use to offer self-service hours to the community. These expanded self-service hours are part of an experiment in offering library services after the COVID-19 pandemic. As a part of this experiment, the two branches equipped with Open+ are open during specific days and hours as a way to expand their preexisting hours of operations.
Another example of a public library that has adopted Open+ for their own self-service hours is the Woodland Branch Library of the Santa Clara County Library District (Morgan, 2023). The Woodland Branch Library first started piloting this self-service model during specific days and hours in November 2022. This program expands the Woodland Branch Library’s hours in the mornings on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, allowing for more patrons to visit when the library would ordinarily be closed.
As more libraries experiment with the self-service library model, and the success of previous pilots are publicized, it is clear that self-service libraries may be the future of our libraries today. It will be interesting to see if self-service libraries will become widespread in the US in the future.
References
Adler, E. (2019. June 1). Libraries without librarians? Twin Cities systems try it. Star Tribune. https://www.startribune.com/libraries-without-librarians-twin-cities-systems-try-it/510713442/
Morgan, Z. (2023, February 1). With aim to increase access, Woodland Library opens self-service hours. Mountain View Voice. https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2023/02/01/with-aim-to-increase-access-woodland-library-opens-self-service-hours/
Santa Monica Public Library. (n.d.). Self-service hours. Santa Monica Public Library.https://smpl.org/selfservicehours/
The Hunt Institute. (2021, April 30). Impact of COVID-19 on public libraries. The Hunt Institute. https://hunt-institute.org/resources/2021/04/impact-of-covid-19-on-public-libraries/
Zulkey, C. (2019, September 3). Automatic for the people. American Libraries. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/09/03/automatic-people-self-service-libraries/