Robot Visions
More academic libraries are starting to embrace robotic retrieval systems to address problems of storage, space, and costs—and are creating transformed library spaces for patrons Sep 15, 2011| In this Article |
| Doing the Robot Dance |
Colgate University, in upstate Hamilton, NY, sits in an area known for its small farms and lush, tree-covered hills. Driving into town on side roads, one can see scores of black-and-white cows munching on grass and silvery grain silos shining in the sun. Colgate’s campus is similarly picturesque—its roads lined with massive oak trees that bring home the longevity and tradition of the university, which was founded in 1819.
The Case Library & Geyer Center for Information Technology, located in the middle of the campus, is a modern glass-and-stone structure. It’s an attractive building, but it doesn’t immediately bring Jetsons-like visions of the future to mind. It’s hardly the place you’d expect to find a robot.
It’s one of close to two dozen libraries worldwide that are using robotic technology to store their low-use materials onsite—and free up space to pursue new possibilities.
| GIANT SIZE The Library Automated Storage and Retrieval System (LASR) at Colgate University's Case Library (inset) stores about 375,000 books in accessible bins (top photo, far left). Photos by David Rapp |
Space: the final frontier
Colgate’s robot is an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), manufactured by industrial equipment maker Dematic—the kind of robot you might find on an assembly line or in a factory.
While many large libraries use automatic sorting systems—for example, the New York Public Library unveiled an impressive one at its Long Island City, NY, facility last year—ASRSs fill a different niche. These systems provide a relatively cost-effective way for libraries to get the space-saving benefits of offsite storage, while keeping the materials onsite and accessible.
ASRSs are made up of a series of shelved metal bins, each densely filled with bar-coded items. A request is entered into the system by a patron or staffer via the library catalog, spurring into action a robotic “picker” that locates the correct drawer, picks it out, and transports it to a staffer who takes out the requested item and scans the barcode, completing the transaction. (See “The Robot in Action” on p. 22 for a photographic tour through the process at the Colgate University library.)
Rise of the machines
It’s a simple but powerful idea, and in libraries it’s a relatively new one. Outside of libraries, it’s old news. When HK Systems (bought by Dematic in September 2010) first entered the library market in 1989, it had been supplying ASRSs to businesses for years; Dematic’s clients include sportswear maker Adidas in the UK and Liberty Hardware in the United States. It’s the only company providing these systems, however, that’s well-established in libraries.
The first library to install such a system was California State University, Northridge (CSUN), which went live with it in August 1991. According to Eric Willis, CSUN’s library systems administrator, the system cost $2.1 million to install, and annual maintenance runs about $25,000. The ASRS now holds more than 850,000 items, including about 650,000 books and 170,000 bound periodicals; it also holds a large number of boxes containing archival materials. The ASRS was part of an expansion project that provided more study and computer room space for students, while cutting down open shelf space.
Being the first to use an ASRS meant that CSUN “had no other libraries to look to,” says Willis, and the planning process took several years. It was new to HK Systems as well. It adapted its industrial equipment to a library environment, while CSUN worked with its integrated library system (ILS) vendor to integrate the software and the new equipment. (It now uses Innovative Interfaces’ Millennium ILS, as does Colgate University.) It was the first ASRS in a library, but it wouldn’t be the last.
| THE ROBOT IN ACTION: HOW THE LASR WORKS 1. A patron looks up an item in the library catalog, either inside or outside the library. If the item is available in LASR, a request can be placed with a few clicks. 2. The request then goes directly to LASR, which exchanges data with the library catalog to locate the bin in which the item has been placed. The system directs the automated retrieval machine to the correct shelved bin. 3. The bin, one of more than 4200 2' x 4' bins in two aisles, is quickly (and surprisingly quietly) placed in front of the staffer on duty. 4. On a computer monitor, the system tells the staffer which section of the bin contains the item, as well as its barcode number. 5. The staffer takes the item out of the bin and scans the barcode. The item is then brought out to the circulation desk for pickup. The whole process takes just a few minutes and is repeated hundreds of times per day, 365 days a year. Photos by David Rapp |
The Colgate experience
Colgate’s library provides a perfect illustration of how these systems can work to an academic library’s advantage. Its main library building contains not only the library but also the university’s state-of-the-art information technology center, as well as a number of classrooms. The building underwent a massive renovation in the mid-2000s—“down to the I-beams” is how Colgate university librarian Joanne Schneider put it to LJ—with the specific aim of containing all of these functions in one place.
But there was one obstacle: space. “Because of the high cost per square foot of this building, there’s always a tension between the physical collection, which had typically taken about 80 percent of the space, and bringing in other units, like ITS [Information Technology Services],” says Schneider. ITS was spread among several separate offices in buildings all over the campus, and consolidation was needed. So the library looked into ways to make room—by reducing the footprint of its huge collection, containing hundreds of thousands of items.
The administration weighed its options. Long-term storage in an outside facility was the obvious way to go, but the storage center was some 120 miles away in Rochester, NY—too far for students and faculty to have convenient access to the materials, which could take days to process and ship and which would rack up transport costs.
A second option was installing compact shelving, in which large, automated shelves, movable with the push of a button, are effectively jammed together into a small space. But the library calculated that even with the maximum amount of compact shelving possible, there would simply not be enough space for all the materials they wanted to include. It also would be costly—up to $12 million, according to estimates.
There was another option to consider, however: an ASRS. It was an uncommon solution—at the time, there were only four other libraries that used ASRSs, including the aforementioned CSUN—but the idea had a lot of things going for it.
First and foremost, it would free up all the space needed to house ITS and provide additional space and classrooms for students. Second, it would also keep the library’s collections together in one building, making them quickly accessible to all—including special collections. “It kept things right onsite, and our donors really liked that part,” says Schneider.
But here was the kicker: it would only cost about half as much as compact shelving, or about $6 million, for both the system and the construction of the room that holds it.
| USING THE SPACE Colgate University's robotic retrieval system gives the library room for plenty of study space (left), as well as shelving for high-use materials (right). Photos by David Rapp |
The decision was soon made to install an ASRS, and by 2007, the system was up and running, holding some 340,000 primarily low-use items in a temperature- and humidity-controlled space.
The system, which Colgate calls “LASR” (Library Automated Storage and Retrieval System), now holds about 375,000 items, including boxes of archival materials and even some high-use items, including CDs and DVDs. Schneider says that the library’s open shelving, where thousands of high-use items are kept, is starting to get “tight,” and plans are now being developed to transfer more materials into LASR. That said, she estimates that the system should be able to support another 25 years of growth.
As expected, Colgate was able to house the ITS department fully inside the building and open up ample space for students. Schneider says that she just recently added 105 seats and has plans to add 200 more.
Merging libraries
Freed-up space can be used for different things; in some instances an ASRS allows a library to consolidate collections. When the University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library (see “Breaking Ground,” LJ Library by Design supplement, Spring 2006, p. 1ff.) was installing its ASRS in 2005, it was able to free up about 4000 feet of shelf space.
The university then closed down its separate Science & Engineering Library and moved 150,000 volumes into the newly available Ekstrom shelving. It also was able to expand its University Archives and Records Center as well, by allocating to it some of the new space. Thanks to the ASRS, all of the collections remain onsite and are available to students and faculty within minutes. The ASRS now holds about half a million items, according to Ekstrom Library director Diane Nichols.
Human resources
Does the automation of an ASRS allow a library to save money on staff? It appears not.
“We haven’t used less staff, but we’ve been able to utilize the staff we have differently,” Colgate’s Schneider says. Staff have been redirected to improve stacks management and tackle inventory projects.
Some libraries have trained existing staff in how to integrate the ASRS into their duties, while others, such as the University of Louisville, have staff dedicated to ASRS.
Alice Abbott-Moore at the University of Louisville was a cataloger at the library for years and oversaw the loading of materials into its ASRS for 11 months after it was installed. But she was hired full-time as the robotic retrieval system supervisor four years ago, she tells LJ, when the circulation department realized it needed a full-time staffer dedicated solely to the ASRS. The reason is clear, as the system is certainly busy enough, especially during the fall and spring semesters—it fielded more than 20,000 requests from patrons from July 2010 to June 2011.
As for day-to-day maintenance, universities’ staff often monitor the system, but major maintenance is generally handled by the manufacturer, with many libraries contracting with Dematic for quarterly onsite upgrades. Breakdowns are rare. For example, Colgate’s system had only six hours of unscheduled downtime during its first year of operation.
Great expectations
In the end, are the systems meeting the goals of libraries? So far, librarians appear to be satisfied. The University of Louisville’s Nichols says that the primary goal of its system was to avoid building an offsite storage facility that would require additional staff and courier deliveries. “Did the system meet our goals? Absolutely!” she tells LJ. “Items in the [robotic retrieval system] are available within minutes rather than the day(s) it might take to retrieve from a remote location.”
Colgate’s expectations, too, seem to have been met: the building now houses the entire library and the entire ITS department, as well as a wide range of user spaces. The library is getting more use than ever, and circulation is up, with LASR incurring an average of 350 requests every single day. “In retrospect, I firmly believe it was the right decision to make,” Colgate’s Schneider says.
But the real proof can be seen by simply taking a walk through the library. First head up the stairs and look through the observation window to see the LASR at work. It’s quite a sight and a popular stop for visitors to the library, Schneider says. Then head downstairs, and see the accessible, well-spaced shelves, full of high-use materials. Then walk farther, and see the rows and rows of tables and chairs and the spectacular windows letting in the sunshine. It’s an open, inviting place where anyone can read and think and learn. That’s the goal of any library.
| University of Missouri-Kansas City's Information Commons. |
People love robots—so it’s little wonder that libraries have attracted public attention for their robotic retrieval systems.
One recent installation that attracted a lot of attention was at the University of Chicago’s Joe and Rika Mansueto Library. The library is currently moving its entire print collection into the system, which is housed underground and can potentially hold some 3.5 million volumes; items will be accessible to patrons starting in the fall. (The library building is also a brand new $81 million construction and has itself attracted attention for its futuristic glass dome, which LJ’s Josh Hadro, in an LJ Insider blog post, characterized as a cross between the Louvre pyramid in Paris and the roof of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt.) The robotic retrieval system, despite not being live, has gotten plenty of interest and press coverage, from the local Chicago Tribune to Wired to the Chronicle of Higher Education. It’s been an unqualified PR success, as well as a logistical one.
Savvy librarians have been using the systems not only to save space but also to get students excited about the library. The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), for example, dedicated its $4 million robotic retrieval system in September 2010 (see InfoTech, LJ 10/15/10, p. 16). It currently holds the library’s bound journals collection, as well as government documents and other materials, with more loading ongoing—up to 800,000 items will eventually be held in the ASRS. As with other universities, the ASRS was part of a larger construction project to make use of space in new ways—in UMKC’s case, an expanded information commons (above), collaborative learning spaces, even a small theater, says UMKC dean of libraries Sharon Bostick.
On top of that, the library has been making sure that its community knows all about the ASRS and is fully engaged with it. It held a poll on campus to name the ASRS, and among the name choices—which included “Fletcher the Fetcher” and “Capek,” after the late Czech author Karel Capek, who first used the word robot in his 1921 play R.U.R.—the UMKC community chose “Roobot,” after UMKC’s Kangaroos athletics teams. The library staff created an animated YouTube video called, simply enough, “How the Robot Works.” And as part of a promotion for the system, the UMKC Student Government Association led an event UMKC students, faculty, and staff took part in: a successful attempt (soon to be made official) to break the Guinness world record for the most people doing the “robot dance” at the same time and place. At UMKC, the robot is a hit.
Libraries, it appears, can do a lot with a robot.
| Author Information |
| David Rapp is Associate Editor, Technology LJ |
