In March 2008, all eight branches went live with the new technology which will allow the Library to focus on improving other services and boost customer satisfaction.

“People are very impressed when they hear how quickly RFID has been rolled out at Yarra Plenty. We started tagging at the beginning of August 2007. To do the whole collection in six months is a fantastic effort,” said Christine Mackenzie, chief executive of the Yarra Plenty Regional Library.

Yarra Plenty Regional Library, one of the highest circulation library services in Victoria, manages 3.6 million books and items across its eight libraries and two mobile library services. The project will make circulation easy, quick and safe. “The deployment of an RFID solution will produce major productivity gains for the library. It provides tools for the library to move to 100 percent self service for the checkout of books, freeing up staff to focus on providing improved customer service,” stated Mackenzie. The RFID system is completely integrated into the SirsiDynix library software. A sorting machine runs in the background of the BiblioReturn system, providing further relief from simple routine activities for staff members. The Library would also be able to provide additional programs and help patrons to take better advantage of the Library’s resources.

“It has been a very positive and productive relationship and we are proud to be Bibliotheca’s reference site in Australia. I think this must have been one of the smoothest implementations of RFID anywhere, and certainly as a project it has been a great success,” pointed out Mackenzie.

Yarra Plenty Regional Library represents the region's second-largest library and one of the most popular libraries in the State of Victoria. It is the first major library in Australia to work with the BiblioChip RFID system.

For more information on Melbourne Regional Library see
www.yprl.vic.gov.au