Borrowing books is a common thing for most of the students. The Nicolaus Copernicus University Main Library took notes from other universities and created book lockers to make students’ lives easier.
Recently, it has been easy to notice a large box labeled “pick up your book whenever you want” in our campus area. Such book lockers are not the only improvement introduced in the main library. This place, as well as the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, have been enriched with self-check screens, enabling the students to borrow books on their own.
It all sounds pretty fascinating, but how to actually use it?
While ordering books from the library, one can choose to pick them up in a selected library or in a book locker. If one decides for the second option, one may expect to get the book within a few days after ordering. To pick up the order, just go to the locker and enter the student ID number and PIN code. To create your own PIN code, visit the library’s website and click the Library Card tab.
The self-check screens for borrowing and returning items from the Open Access area work similarly. All you need is your student ID number, PIN, and any book you find in the library. A detailed instruction on this process can be found by a QR code displayed on the locker screens.
A few words from the expert
As the assisant director of the university’s library Dominika Czyżak said in our interview, book lockers are to make the students’ process of borrowing books easier. Such lockers are open 24/7, and our library offers two such facilities: outside and indoors the Main Library. The one indoors is also available outside the library’s opening hours; in this case, you have to open the door entrance with your card.
Ms Czyżak also reminds the students of the self-service screens with which we can borrow and give back books we ordered. Having your PIN code is important in this situation, as it enables one to fulfil this whole process. One can do all of that on their own, or go to the main library to have it done by the library staff.
Book lockers seem to be a great alternative to traditional book borrowing, especially for busy students who need to balance their studies with other commitments.
You can find detailed instruction on how to borrow a book from the library here.
Polish version of the article by Michalina Hanzdel here.
[pictures: Michalina Handzel]