The Columbia Public Library announced it will be closing for a technology update Jan. 11-13. Curbside pickup, online chat, outreach services and the bookmobile will continue as usual during the closure. According to a news release, the new tech will allow for a faster check-in and check-out process.  

The new radio frequency identification technology will be installed in all the Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) branches, resulting in temporary closures at each: Ashland Callaway County will be closed Jan. 6; Holts Summit Public Library will be closed Jan. 7 and Southern Boone County Public Library will be closed Jan. 10.

The transition to the new technology is funded by a Library Services and Technology Act grant through the Missouri State Library.

“We were fortunate to receive an LSTA grant through the Missouri State Library to fund the switch to RFID (radio frequency identification) technology that will speed up the check-in and check-out process for patrons,” said Margaret Conroy, Executive Director of DBRL. “Many other libraries across the country have been using this technology for a while and their patrons like how convenient it is.” 

 “We’ll be tagging all of the books, music CDs, DVDs, kits and other items in our collection so that they are recognized by an RFID tag reader, which can scan multiple items in a stack at once,” said Nathan Pauley, technical services manager at DBRL. “The new technology automatically and uniquely identifies each item and lets us better manage the library’s collection.” Library staff will be tagging more than 440,000 items system-wide.