Libraries play a critical role in our society by promoting literacy, community and education and by providing a place to facilitate learning. Libraries offer more than just physical books to loan; they have adapted incredibly to the digital age, with eBooks and other digital media now representing over 50 percent of library collections. Public libraries have also become increasingly important as meeting places for local organizations, serving as places where communities gather and learn.
Modern libraries need modern conveniences to continue to attract the next generation of learners. Library lockers are one such convenience, offering secure places to store, pick up and drop off books and other items.
Library Lockers: An Overview
Types of Library Lockers
Library lockers come in two basic categories: traditional lockers, which open and close via a mechanical lock, and smart lockers, which connect to power and the internet and offer flexible applications.
Uses of Lockers in Libraries
You can use library lockers in various ways, including for personal storage, exchanging goods or picking up borrowed materials.
Personal Storage - Visitors and employees can rent out library lockers hourly, daily or more permanently for personal storage. The ability to store personal items gives visitors more flexibility while visiting the library. Locker rentals can also provide an additional source of revenue for the library.
Exchange of Goods - Employees and patrons can use library lockers to exchange goods and facilitate contactless returns.
Borrowed Materials Pickup - Another valuable use for library lockers is to pick up borrowed materials, including books and other media. Contactless pickup is a definite perk for libraries looking to modernize their service offerings.
Customizations and Applications
You can customize library lockers with a variety of materials, lock types and applications.
Materials
Library lockers normally come in laminate or steel. Laminate library lockers can be customized with bold colors or graphics to reflect your library’s unique style, showcase local history or blend in with your space’s design. Steel library lockers offer long-lasting durability and can come in bold or neutral colors.
Natural elements also can enhance lockers. For example, consider the biophilia trend of bringing the outdoors in. Add planter boxes above locker banks to seamlessly incorporate live plants into the space's design, or create locker doors with natural wood, grasses, leaves or flowers! Biophilia not only enhances the look of the lockers, but adding live plants helps improve air quality and promotes stress relief for library visitors and staff.
Locks
Library lockers can use smart or traditional locks. Traditional locks include combination, hasp and keyed locks; these are assigned to a single person and, as their names suggest, require a combination or key to open.
Smart locks, such as digital and RFID, offer greater flexibility. Smart locks can be wired or wireless and reset securely, so libraries can use them for a wider variety of applications than traditional locks.
Applications
In addition to creating more storage, library planners can incorporate lockers into the space’s design to create functional divisions within open areas. For example, lockers can create islands, wall partitions and movable walls.
Imagine how a low set of lockers formed into an island can turn one large, open space into two functional zones – one with tables for studying/working and one with bean bags and other kid-friendly seating for younger library patrons. Lockers can even be installed on tracks to become movable walls, giving libraries the option to make spaces smaller or larger depending on the sizes of their events.
How Library Lockers Enhance the Visitor Experience
Cleanliness
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for contactless experiences. One of the many benefits of library lockers is the ability to offer a clean and contactless way for visitors to pick up and return books and other media.
Lockers can be outfitted with touchless technology, antimicrobial finishes and easy-to-clean surfaces to give patrons a safe, clean way to access all the library has to offer.
Personal Storage
Offering library visitors the ability to store personal items during their stay is a great perk. Library lockers can be rented out hourly or daily to library visitors, such as students or those attending events at the library. Library employees and volunteers can also use lockers to securely store their belongings while working at the library.
Giving library patrons access to storage lockers allows them to step away from work or study without fear of their personal belongings being lost or stolen.
Book and Material Exchange
Library lockers can also be used for exchanging goods, such as returning books or other media to the library, even outside library hours. Using smart lockers to facilitate returns can enhance the visitor experience by allowing for contactless, or self-service, returns or even repairs of laptops, headphones and other tech devices.
Pickup Lockers
Library pickup lockers allow libraries to extend their hours of operation without needing employees. This flexibility greatly benefits library visitors who can’t visit during regular business hours or who simply want a contactless experience. Library workers can place requested items in smart lockers designed for pickup that library visitors can access via a unique code at a time convenient for them.
During the pandemic, the librarians at Wake Forest University sought a safer, more efficient solution to facilitating contactless pickup and found their solution with Patterson Pope. Installing smart lockers in the library made for a more efficient pickup process, but it did more than that. The smart lockers provided librarians insight into how patrons were using the lockers, which they could use to further optimize the experience. For example, data from the smart lockers’ digital dashboard showed patrons were using lockers more for pickup than daily rentals, so the librarians reconfigured them to create more pickup lockers.
Find Library Lockers Suited to Your Needs
Library lockers can modernize your library and enhance the visitor experience. Offer your patrons the convenience of personal storage, contactless book returns and a self-service pickup option, even outside of regular hours. Speak with a storage specialist today to learn about custom library locker options for your space.
