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The City of Paris has chosen 3M Library Systems to supply and install radio frequency identification (RFID) systems at 42 branches. The technology is intended to boost the efficiency of circulation and collection management, improve security and, at higher-traffic branches, provide customers with self-service check-out and return facilities to free up staff for other functions.

3M is a leading supplier of RFID technology for library systems. In the US, its customers range in size from the public libraries of top-10 cities, such as San Antonio and Phoenix, to single-branch community libraries around the nation. The public library network of Paris becomes 3M’s largest library customer in France, where scores of libraries are using 3M RFID systems.

“The selection of 3M to serve a world capital such as Paris provides further confirmation of the reliability and versatility of our RFID systems and the quality of service that stands behind them,” said Lemuel Amen, vice president of 3M Track and Trace Solutions, which includes 3M Library Systems. “It also represents an international milestone for the growing recognition of RFID as a significant productivity enhancer for library management.”

In libraries, RFID technology uses radio waves to read information stored on tiny computer chips (or “tags”) affixed to books, tapes, CDs and other circulating materials. The radio waves allow the stored data, including identification of the item, to be read without the need for line of sight, providing a major advantage over barcodes. The technology enables a variety of circulation, inventory, security and customer service functions to be automated.

According to Rory Yanchek, 3M Library Systems business manager, the agreement with the Paris library system calls for 3M to provide at least three million RFID tags, as well as workstations, readers, detection gates and SelfCheck systems that allow customers to check out and return items, and in some cases even pay fees and fines, without staff assistance. Installations are scheduled to begin later this year.

“The range of RFID-related library products continues to expand, enabling library staffs to provide more services at a time when customer demand is growing faster than financial resources,” says Yanchek. “We’re finding that libraries of all sizes are turning to 3M RFID to help them do more on limited budgets.”