[OPLINTECH] Lending/Circulating Laptops for Public Access

[JKENZIG]

Wow,
I have heard of libraries allowing patrons to have laptops to use within
their libraries but haven't yet come across one actually letting patrons
take them home. We have had wireless web tablets at several of our
branches for a few years left on tables so patrons could pick them up
and use them around the library. We had a lot of issues with these in
having to create a space/power for charging them, patrons leaving them
lying around with inappropriate content left on them, and having to come
up with a way to reset them to default after a patron is done with them.
We have since decided that the web tablets will only have our web
catalog available. 

 At very best you would need to have a product like Deepfreeze by
Faronics on them that reset the laptop back to your vanilla
configuration when it was returned. Further you would need to have
control over all the accessories that go with the laptop to the patron
as well as a large area for storing and charging the units between
loans. It can get quite expensive to manage and time consuming for staff
also having to check them over every return cycle. It is a large
undertaking. 

Jim Kenzig
Network Manager
Cuyahoga County Public Library

-----Original Message-----
From: oplintech-bounces at oplin.org [mailto:oplintech-bounces at oplin.org]
On Behalf Of Maria Wilburn
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:40 AM
To: oplintech at oplin.org
Subject: [OPLINTECH] Lending/Circulating Laptops for Public Access

We a mid-size rural public library in an old Carnegie Public Library
Building. We are about to start a remodeling project at our library and
our Architect in his original presentation mentioned that "a lot of
libraries are now lending laptops to patrons. These laptops can be used
anywhere and you don't have to allocate in library space for them." This
translated in to our board believing that lending laptops was a done
deal. And that was what we're going to do.

I now have several questions for all of those libraries in Ohio that are
circulating laptops or have considered doing so.


Let me know why decided to lend or decided not to lend laptops?

Can you tell me your success or failure stories? Need pros & cons for
this subject.

If you are lending: Who are you? Can we come and visit?

Thanks,

--
Maria Wilburn-Technology Coordinator
Carnegie Public Library
127 S North St.
Washington CH, OH 43160

(740) 335-2540 voice
(740) 335-8409 Fax
wilburma at oplin.org

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