Vending Machines Ready to Launch

 The Vending Machines have arrived at the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club and people are stopping by with grins on their faces while we load them up with children's books!

This was truly a team effort and there are a number of people to thank for making this happen!

• Amy Rae for the enticing collection choices that have kids asking when the machines will be ready!
• Rob for his awesome technical expertise that helped us get everything working just right.
• Marcia and the Outreach Team for agreeing to keep the machine fully stocked and bring back returns.
• Dan and the Maintenance Team for delivering the book drops that will sit beside each machine.
• Jeremy for doing the work necessary to code the grant budget and get the grant reimbursements.
• Brandi and Aaron for managing the messaging, current and future.
• Tara and the CS Team for setting up the collection rental agreement and processing all the new books.
• Aaron for designing the gorgeous machine wraps- we've heard lots of compliments already!

Here's what you need to know:

• You can use the machines now, but they aren't completely stocked. We're still waiting on picture books.
• This project was funded with federal pandemic relief dollars and is intended to give kids easy access to books so their reading skills will improve. Currently 27% of KUSD 3rd graders can read at a 3rd grade level.
• The collection covers reading levels from picture books to chapter books. 
• You can't pay fines or place holds on the machine. Think of the machine as a candy bar machine stocked with books. I scan my card and choose 204 to get the book in the front of that row.
• Patrons can return any item they have checked out from any branch or the machines to any book drop, including the ones by the vending machines.
• Patrons DO NOT have to use a PIN at the machines- just scan your library barcode and choose the item you'd like.
• At this time you cannot scan the patron barcode you have stored in your KPL app. Our vendor will replace the machines' scanners over the next few weeks to enable that feature.
• Remember there are no overdue fines on children's books and the machine holds nothing but children's books.
• People are already asking whether we'll also stock books for adults. This project's intention is to help kids catch up with their reading proficiency post-pandemic. So for the first year we'll only be stocking children's materials.
• The machine gives printed receipts.
• The checkout period for items in the machines is the same as any kids books in our collection.
• The collection will change over completely four times per year. We have a rental plan to make sure the books are always new and pretty. The first year of the rental plan is paid for through the grant. Future years will be paid through our library collection budget.
• The records for the books in the machines do not show in the SHARE catalog. So no holds.
• Some of the children's books for the machines are really skinny and we may have incidents where they drop unexpectedly. We'll figure out these small problems as we go. 
• If you get phone calls from the general public you can't answer, offer to call the patron back and talk to Linda, Rob, Marcia, or me for help. Please don't transfer patrons directly to us- we're on the go a lot. We don't want the patron to dead-end.
• If you get calls from the Y or the BGC staff, go ahead and transfer those to us.