Looking for an easy sign-in app for library patrons
April 25, 2018 11:27 AM   Subscribe

At my library, storytime participants have to sign in with their library card number. This often results in a line to get in, as people are fiddling with their keychains, squinting at the numbers and juggling little kids at the same time. I have an idea for a new system, but I don't know how to make it work.

I have an ipad and a bluetooth scanner, so I'd like to use them to scan patrons' barcodes. I also am supposed to collect names, so what I envision is a database where the patron types in their information once and every time they scan their card after that their info pops up. Then at the end of storytime I have a list of everyone who was there.
Does such a thing already exist? Could I make one?
Any ideas are appreciated.
posted by Biblio to Computers & Internet (21 answers total)
 
Don't you already have the name of everyone with a library card? Why would you need to collect it again?

I know that library software is often a little out of date, but this seems like something that you should be able to fit into your existing system - could they "check out" a storytime book (that doesn't have a return required) and then you could see everyone who checked it out, or something like that?
posted by brainmouse at 11:31 AM on April 25, 2018 [4 favorites]


Can you just...let people come to storytime without signing in? You could always still do a quick count if you need to know numbers. For context, our library storytime is just a regular old drop in thing and you don't have to sign in at all, and it seems to work perfectly fine. (And would you really turn away a kid who was visiting with grandparents who didn't have a library card because they were from out of town?)
posted by rainbowbrite at 11:32 AM on April 25, 2018 [14 favorites]


Their names have got to be already associated with their cards already somehow, right?

On preview, a checked out storytime 'book' seems like a great idea. Someone in your IT department will have a good idea about how to make that or something like it happen with the existing tech.
posted by Kwine at 11:33 AM on April 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Maybe they could scan their barcodes at the end of storytime? It would give the parents plenty of time to find their cards while the kids are enjoying the stories.
posted by jabes at 11:39 AM on April 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I'm not really getting why people have to sign in at all, let alone with something other than just their names and # of kids. What does your library do with that information? Would you turn away a parent or nanny who didn't have a library card?

Failing that, piggybacking on top of the existing card system seems like the best way to go.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 11:55 AM on April 25, 2018


could they "check out" a storytime book (that doesn't have a return required) and then you could see everyone who checked it out, or something like that?

This depends on your ILS but this is absolutely what I would do. You can "run a report" of the people who have checked out that "book" and then have the names of everyone who has attended. Is Storytime for patrons only? Do you have an option for non-patrons? If so, can you extend it to all patrons?
posted by jessamyn at 12:02 PM on April 25, 2018


piggybacking on top of the existing card system seems like the best way to go

Yeah, since they have barcodes, don't you already have scanners, and names associated with the barcodes? You don't actually say why more hardware is needed.

Assuming that, you can just set up storytime as a "book" on your system, as others have said above.
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:08 PM on April 25, 2018


Response by poster: They have to give me their number. It's not my rule, I don't care, but we are only supposed to do storytimes for people in our system. If a nanny or grandparent comes they can sit in for one session and then they have to get a card.

Checking out a book sounds great...except I have to check it in between every patron. I don't think we have an option to check out without checking back in. And our system doesn't let me run a report of who's had which book. We don't keep that info for privacy reasons.

Our existing mobile circulation app doesn't have a feature that lets me collect barcodes in a list. I might be able to scan them into the notes app, but that doesn't get me their names, which I also need.

I would prefer to let everybody in, of course.
posted by Biblio at 12:18 PM on April 25, 2018


Response by poster: And I should just point out that getting a card is free for 95% of the people who don't have one. It's only the out-of-state folks who have to pay.
posted by Biblio at 12:22 PM on April 25, 2018


Checking out a book sounds great...except I have to check it in between every patron. I don't think we have an option to check out without checking back in. And our system doesn't let me run a report of who's had which book. We don't keep that info for privacy reasons.

You'd have to keep a record, and be able to run a report, of who still has a particular book checked out though, otherwise you wouldn't be able to issue overdue notices. And surely your ILS is not so incompetent as to prevent your library holding multiple copies of a single book. So what stops your library "acquiring" a "class set" of story time attendance "books" that's large enough to cover your maximum story time session capacity, checking one "copy" out to each attendee for the duration of story time, then running the who-has-this-out report at the end before checking them all back in?
posted by flabdablet at 12:28 PM on April 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Do you need their names or just card numbers? A low tech solution but could you just take a picture of their bar codes as they sign in and then input it yourself (or get a volunteer to do it) during story time? It would likely be quicker.
posted by raccoon409 at 12:38 PM on April 25, 2018


We have folks preregister for story times, but that's mostly for craft purposes. Our children's department often has an associated craft and they need to have a gauge of how many supplies to
gather. Other than that, anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of whether they are a registered patron or not.

Maybe bring this "rule" up in a staff meeting? Or hold some open story times for anyone who wants to attend. It seems to be a rather rigid process, and I can see how awkward it has to be, for you and your story time folks.

My library is in a tourist area, and we get people from all over the world, literally! The amount of goodwill you can generate by being open and welcoming to everyone, without putting restrictions on your services and making people toe the hard line will more than make up for whatever perceived gain by having them be "official" patrons.

That said, could you make a pile of fake cards (attach an item bar code to each card) and hand them out to the attendees, check them out, and gather the cards at the end of the session, to be scanned back in and reused. I use something like this for my interlibrary loans, and reuse the bar coded cards over and over. Our system give a brief title/fast add option, but you might be able to just use STORY TIME or something, and not delete the title info after use. There's almost certainly a way to print a receipt with the patron name/number. Or run a quick report before the cards are scanned back in.
posted by LaBellaStella at 12:45 PM on April 25, 2018


I wonder if there is library event registration software that can connect this your ILS. If so, perhaps you can have them "register" at the door (or even after the program).

Otherwise, maybe contact your ILS for ideas? I would worry about a third-party app having access to your patron database - seems like a security risk.
posted by toastedcheese at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2018


Response by poster: I have a hard time imagining asking our tech services person to catalog fake books, but more to the point, there is no "who has this out" report. When I scan a book in our system I can't see who has it checked out. The only work around I can think of is more labor intensive than what I'm doing now.

The receipt thing would work, but I don't have a printer where I am, and they don't work with the iPad, which I would be using.

Obviously this is a dumb situation. I'm just going to talk to my boss (who is relatively new) to see if we can't just get rid of the requirement.
posted by Biblio at 12:49 PM on April 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


If you have a library scanner you can open a google spreadsheet, scan a barcode and it will pop up in the box. The first time you do this it won't have names, but you could go look for them manually and then create a REF through spreadsheets or excel to pick them up next time.
posted by aetg at 12:49 PM on April 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Nevermind, I'm stupid. I can individually go see who has a book checked out, but I can't run a report unless Circ is holding out on me.

The Google Sheets option is what I was originally hoping for.
posted by Biblio at 12:54 PM on April 25, 2018


Could you just have a stack of individually barcoded postcards, in a 'checked in' pile, and when a new person checks in, grab a card, 'check it out' to them, then put the card in a 'checked out' pile? No need to ever give the card to the patrons. At the end of the event, you can take all the 'checked out' cards, look up the patron information, record it however you were doing previously, then check all the cards back in before the next event?

I'm not a Librarian, but I would be concerned that a database that contains a record of every library event attended by each patron would be just as much of a privacy concern as retaining the records of which books they checked out. Even if you delete the attendance list after each event, if the patron is in the database, you know they attended at least one event. Make sure you get the appropriate permissions to store patron information in whatever database/spreadsheet you're creating, and can keep it secure--you don't want to end up with a headline "Library leaks patron information" if someone hacks your Google account and gets access to your homemade Google Sheets document.
posted by yuwtze at 1:22 PM on April 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


Check in with the fine folks at publib listserv
https://www.webjunction.org/documents/webjunction/PubLib_Overview.html
Ask for help in how to scan batches of patron barcodes to a word pad or excel document
Let them know your ILS brand— maybe there is a ‘remote’ or ‘offline’ function?
Sorry for the long link...
You can also search the listserv
posted by calgirl at 2:02 PM on April 25, 2018


Could you scan the barcodes into an empty document and then look up the patron names later? Do you have to prove their cards are in good standing before, or can you just take the barcode they give you?

Could you create a "known traveller" program for people you know by sight? Record the regulars' barcodes and check them off the pre-printed list, then scan/copy new people's barcodes as usual?

If you can't solve the barcode problem, could you solve the waiting problem? I don't know how you're running your story time, but if the waiting part is a problem, you could offer free play at the beginning, so parents can release wiggly kids to play with the toys/enjoy the themed book display/do a simple craft/whatever while the parents are standing in line. Once the whole line is checked in, you give them ten more minutes, sing the cleanup song, and then start story time. It's sort of like how Disneyland puts cool stuff in the waiting area so waiting in line is not so difficult. (It also doubles your stats because you can claim the free play time as a separate program.)
posted by blnkfrnk at 2:51 PM on April 25, 2018


I just saw your update. Now is the time to have a conversation with the new boss. This whole rigamarole is crazy, and making a change now that will make both staff and patrons happy is a win win! Wishing you all the best. Story time is so much fun, for everyone!!
posted by LaBellaStella at 3:06 PM on April 25, 2018 [7 favorites]


I am a library patron in 2 towns and a university. I took my grandbaby to storytime when he was living in a town where I do not have a library card, because that's where he and his parents lived. I would have been annoyed to have to ask his parents to give me their card, and if it caused a line, even more so.

But taxpayers get cranky and want metrics about who uses services, blah, blah. I'll bet you could hustle up some grant applications. If you serve a poverty area, there should be some kind of grants for early literacy. Libraries can always use cash, and it would be a way to shine.
posted by theora55 at 5:06 PM on April 25, 2018


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