Dunedin Public Libraries is giving new meaning to a quick read.
Dunedin City Council is to upgrade the checkout technology at its libraries.
Council arts and culture group manager Bernie Hawke said the upgrade from barcodes to radio frequency identification (RFID) tags would speed up checkouts, allow multiple items to be checked out at once and allow customers to pay fees and fines at the self-check machines.
The technology would also help prevent theft, as the tags would set off alarms if items were not checked out before being taken out of the library.
At the Mosgiel and Dunedin City libraries, the tags would be detected by out-of-hours return slots and items would be instantly returned.
The technology would make vandalism more difficult, as the slots would open only with a tag, he said.
The technology would be installed between May 19 and 23 and library staff would help customers use it, Mr Hawke said.
