The Roanoke Rapids Public Library has installed new software that it hopes will make using its 13 public computers easier and easier to print from.
The city received the software — PC reservation system and print management — from a grant from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Between the $5,392 for the grant and the city’s match, the value of the software is $8,600.
The software is in place now and city Librarian Jeff Watson said it will allow patrons to login to the computers by using their library cards. There is also a guest login system.
Before the software, patrons had to get staff members to log them in, said city Parks and Recreation Director John Simeon, whose department oversees the library. “Now they can sign at the desk and go straight to the computers and login using their library card.”
Computer use is limited to two hours but there is a mechanism within the software that allows the user pause for breaks, Watson said.
The print management system.
The system allows the library to monitor what a patron is looking at so a message can sent to the user if they are looking at inappropriate content. Inappropriate content means pornography sites as well as social networking sites such as Facebook.
There have been instances where patrons have visited inappropriate sites in the past, both Simeon and Watson confirmed.
Watson said the intended use of the computers is for information gathering and that the 800 to 900 users a month come to the library for job searches or homework assignments.
Meanwhile, the print management software is designed to eliminate paper waste. The software is designed to allow the patron to choose the pages to be printed but gives them the cost so they can either accept or amend the pages they want printed.
The print job is then sent to the front desk where the librarian on duty can confer with patron before printing.
“I think it’s going to make a more pleasant experience for the patron,” Watson said, “Especially with the printing. It will save money with unnecessary printing.”
