A new app is allowing boos to be borrowed without having to wait at borrowing stations to check out.
The National Library in Singapore has come up with a new program to help to beat the lineups in its libraries by using a new mobile app that will allow device users to scan smartphone barcodes and borrow books right as they take them off the shelf, instead of having to wait in line at borrowing stations.
This mobile app is designed to help to make things much more convenient for library users.
The program uses a mobile app that can be downloaded into a user’s phone so that they can scan the smartphone barcodes and check out the book, no matter where they happen to be within the library. This lets them take the book out without having to line up and wait, making the experience much more pleasant and convenient. A manager at the National Public Library, Robin Dresel, explained that “We are getting more things done on the mobile phone these days, we want to use this tool to improve services in the library.”
Smartphone barcodes lets people use the library in a way that suits their lifestyles much more closely.
To use the NLB Mobile app, visitors must first use the NLB website to sign up for a myLibrary account. They can then download the app and sign in using their user names and passwords. Once they’re signed in, they can use the app to check out books. Moreover, multiple users can use the same device, through multiple accounts in one app. This means that a parent can allow children to sign in with their own information to take out a book.
The mobile application also has other features, such as library event notifications and book recommendations based on the borrowing history of the user and the physical library locations where he or she tends to take out books.
Using the NLB website to sign up for a myLibrary account, the mobile device owner can sign up and will receive the necessary username and password in the mail within a span of five days. Alternatively, people can head to any public library until October 18 in order to receive their usernames and passwords immediately. Both iOS and Android devices are appropriate for the app, and smartphone barcodes can start being scanned as soon as a user is logged in.
