South Jordan library homey, tech-savvy

SOUTH JORDAN — When the new South Jordan branch of the Salt Lake County library system opens today, it will combine the feel of an old-fashioned library with the perks of cutting-edge technology new to Utah.

The library, at 10673 S. Redwood Road, will open at 10 a.m.. A grand-opening ceremony will be followed by a day of games, crafts, face-painting — and lots of books, audio-visual materials and other library items ready to be taken home.

Among the library's highlights is a new radio frequency identification (RFID) system that allows patrons to automatically check items in and out by themselves.

"You think self-check-out at the grocery store is great," county library spokeswoman Tauni Everett said. "This is revolutionary."

The system is based on small patches placed on books and other items at the library. The patches contain radio antennae that allow an entire stack of items to be checked out at once, without any barcodes to scan or other hassles of self-check-out.

Patrons will insert their library cards into a slot, stack the items they want on the check-out machine, print a receipt and walk out the door. South Jordan's library is the first in the state to incorporate this technology. Everett said when Draper's new library opens in November, it will be equipped with RFID, too, and eventually the whole county system will use it.

When items are returned to the library, they will go onto a conveyor belt, which will read their radio frequency and automatically sort them into bins — adult non-fiction, children's fiction, audio CD, etc. — dramatically reducing the time library staff will spend on returning items to the shelves.

"It just makes the whole process so much faster," Everett said.

All items at the South Jordan library will be tagged for RFID, and as items from other libraries in the county system are returned to South Jordan, staff will add the radio tags to them. Eventually, all the items in the county system will be RFID-ready, Everett said.

But patrons don't need to worry that they will be entering a sterile, high-tech setting when they visit South Jordan's library. The new branch will have a fireplace, art displays and the other traditional amenities that make library users comfortable.

"This is a high-tech library, but we still have all the great things about a library," Everett said. "You walk in this library and you feel like you just want to sit down and read a book. We've kept all the good stuff of the old with the great things of the new."

The library will also provide wireless Internet access to patrons with laptop computers.

At about 20,000 square feet, the library is twice as large as the city's old branch. Everett said the entire library upgrade cost about $3 million — which is essentially paid off.

The library was built without any bonds or tax increases.

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