Director of Operations Lynn Hoffman and Technical Service Manager Rebecca Sandoval took a walk through the branch to share some of those plans. Explore the video or read the highlights below.
“We got a grant in 2018 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which allowed us to preserve community memories,” said Sandoval. “We asked the community members to come in, and we digitized their memories. So, whether it was a photograph that was important to them, a Bible that somebody had inscribed in, there were quilts that had been made, anything that was part of our community's past that was important to them, we wanted to preserve that. Then, we load them into an online platform so that anybody can see them and they're able to be shared.”
“We're going to have some cool equipment in this room,” said Hoffman. “One thing is a large-format scanner digitizer. So, we'll be able to handle things like newspapers and maps. And, we'll also have equipment that you can use bringing your own memories in from home to make digital preservation copies of them. So if you have VHS tapes, or cassettes or a bunch of slides, we'll have an easy way for you to process those and get a digital copy for you to keep.”
As Sandoval and Hoffman moved further through the branch, they arrived at the reservable, private meeting and study rooms.
“These are small rooms that can be used for private study or meetings,” said Hoffman. “We have eight of them all together, which is really awesome that we were able to fit that into this design. One of them actually is going to be soundproofed so you can use it, you can bring in your podcasting equipment from home, and have a nice quiet place to record your podcast. And, the other thing that I'm excited about from a technology standpoint is that they're all going to be reservable through our online meeting room reservation system. You'll be able to go in and see when they're available and make a reservation. Each one of them will have a keypad on the door and the system will send you a text when it's your turn to have study rooms.”
Finally, Sandoval and Hoffman arrived at the new automated materials handling system (AMH), a sorting device that will be exclusive to the Montgomery location.
“We are standing in front of what will be the sorting room at the new Montgomery branch,” said Hoffman. “In this space behind me, we will have what's known as an automated materials handling system. And, what that does is it takes care of some of the most basic things that we do when you return your materials to the library. So when you return your materials, the machine will check them in. And then it will talk to our catalog and checkout system and figure out how to sort it to make it easier for our staff to go back and put stuff back on the shelf. Checking stuff in. It's not a customer service thing. It's not like we're having a conversation with you. A machine totally can do that job for us. We're really excited to have it here at Montgomery because we know this is going to be a popular location and lots and lots of materials will flow through here. Fortunately, the room will have windows so if you would like you can put your book in the slot and then turn around and watch it go down the conveyor belts. Fun not just for kids but grownups, too.”
View the video - Groundbreaking Episode 2: https://youtu.be/CAzjCeeWP7k. View Groundbreaking Episode 1: https://youtu.be/bG5HCHjCxrU. Subscribe to SCLSNJ on YouTube and never miss an update: https://www.youtube.com/c/SCLSNJ.
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