BENTONVILLE – The new machine designed to increase efficiency and provide better service to public library users has a new name.
The library announced in a press release Thursday that its nine-bin automated materials sorting system from Tech Logic was nicknamed “Bookie Monster” after a naming contest involving local residents.
According to Courtney Fitzgerald, the library’s chief circulation librarian, the machine automatically sorts materials returned by patrons into different categories. This is done using RFID technology. All items in the library are tagged with RFID security tags.
The device reads the labels when items are returned and uses them to determine which items belong in which bins. At the same time, it communicates with the library’s database to check the items back in. Staff then checks the items for damage before placing them in the correct place in the library.
Fitzgerald said the nine-bin sorter is an improvement over the three-bin machine the library had at the front of the building. The new machine will save library staff a tremendous amount of time they previously spent sorting materials and allow them to focus more on interacting with and assisting library patrons, she said. The library has another three-bin sorter at the back of the building.
According to a press release on Thursday, the library received 114 suggestions for a new name for the machine. A panel of librarians narrowed the suggestions down to 11, after which 588 library users voted for their preferred name.
Bookie Monster received the most votes with 83 votes, the press release said. It finished ahead of ChewBOOKa (80 votes) and BEAST (Book Eater and Sorter Too!) (76 votes), followed by BOB (Belly of Books) and R2Book2. Library users Kelsie Land and Christine Salley submitted the winning name.
“Bookie Monster is a fantastic name for the new sorter,” Fitzgerald said in the press release. “It reminds us of one of pop culture’s most beloved characters and aptly describes the voracity of the machine.”
According to the press release, the library will hold a ceremony at a later date to present Bookie Monster with a library staff nameplate.
