RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is another one of those security/productivity technologies that has gotten a lot of hype, but in reality has caused very little stir at retail despite the major attempts on the part of WAL-MART to implement it.

Recently, I asked several replicators if they had any real experience with the technology. Most said no. Some said they expect it will happen someday because of its inventory attributes, but a lot of kinks in the technology still need to be worked out.

That comment prompted me to call Clear-Vu, a small but aggressive company in New York, that has been working on security packaging for probably as long as I’ve been writing in this business. Its parent company, API, has been in plastics manufacturing for more than 50 years. Anyway, company CEO Michael Lax, brought to my attention a market that has made RFID work: libraries, where media shrinkage is, of course, a major concern.

Clear-Vu has been working with Checkpoint Systems and has installed its products in hundreds of libraries. However, use of RFID in libraries goes way beyond that. Just last week, 3M announced an alliance that will have them become the exclusive worldwide reseller and service provider for Checkpoint’s line of library security and productivity products as of January 1, 2008. While RFID is not the only product Checkpoint offers libraries, it’s an area I thought replicators would be interested in reading about.

Why has RFID flourished in the library market while it hasn’t made much of an impat anywhere else? It comes down to the three “Ls”—no lines, no labor no loss,” says Lax. He likens RFID in the library to EZ Pass on the road. (Just in case you don’t travel in the Northeast, EZ Pass is a device that a driver places on the windshield of their car and when someone drives through a toll booth, money is automatically deducted from an account. No need to scramble to tokens or quarters, or for a toll booth clerk to make change.) “It’s a terrific time saving, there are no labor costs for the municipality and the municipality gets their money right away with a secure transaction,” said Lax. This kind of self-service technology is also becoming popular in supermarkets and other retail chains like Home Depot where customers are checking out the items they want to purchase by themselves. “While we were thinking about this concept and how we could offer it for video to stores like Best Buy, along came Checkpoint to talk to us about the library market where there are theft problems with DVD movies and audio books,” Lax said.

Clear-Vu developed the One-Time media case technology in conjunction with Viva Magnetics. It features a completely internal locking mechanism, along with double-overlapping walls that seal the entire case. The One-Time protects assets and EAS/RFID tags. At checkout, a decoupler is needed to unlock it. It is quick and easy. “We thought, why not integrate RFID for self-checkout with Checkpoint for the library market?” says Lax.

Here’s how it works. If someone wants to check out at a library, it can be done at a kiosk where you present the library card with the books and multimedia to be checked out. There is an RFID chip on the card that says a customer is in good standing. The kiosk authenticates the transaction. It scans the products into the system. Obviously, if any DVDs are locked up, there is no access to the disc. DVD and CD cases are put into a machine that looks like an ATM machine, it swallows the One-Time case and unlocks it. As you walk through the exit, with an EAS type system, everything is re-integrated to make sure all products have been checked out, Lax explains.

Is this a new application for libraries? According to Rory Yanchek, Library Systems Business Manager at 3M, although adoption of RFID in the library marketplace has been slow, it has been available to libraries since 1996. Adoption has been only a couple of percentage points. However, the combination of resources from 3M and Checkpoint could help grow that market. Checkpoint has a large, broad portfolio of products--including RFID--and the partnership, according to Yanchek, will expand Checkpoint’s reach because of 3M’s greater global distribution. Also, Checkpoint’s customers will also be able to take advantage of 3M’s service capabilities.

Yanchek notes that libraries can get greater than 90% of their patrons flowing through the library using a self-service RFID. Why is that beneficial? “Our quest is to create a more human library. RFID and other technologies can help free librarians from doing the manual things that they’ve had to do over the years. By freeing them from the manual tasks, they can spend more time doing what they have been trained to do--which is help people.”

In spite of the wealth of information available on the web, we still need libraries! The web doesn't replace libraries; it just enhances them. I was thrilled to have card catalogs become a thing of the past with the advent of the internet. Even though research is my life, libraries can still be an intimidating place. (If you don't think libraries can be intimidating, check out the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue.)

The best thing about libraries adopting RFID technologies first is that it doesn't have to end there. Perhaps libraries can set an example for the retail environment that continues to struggle with productivity--and even more so, with security--particularly this time of the year. Debbie Galante Block is a freelance writer based in Mahopac, New York.