Machine versus librarian – where are modern lending libraries heading to?

Abstract

BG WUM self-service lending library has been operating since 2012, and its aim is to help BG WUM users to find the literature they need in the easiest way possible. The article describes the functioning of the lending library, the construction and operation of a self-check – a machine, which allows borrowing and returning books, and presents RFID labels and book collection security. The statistics referred to in the paper illustrate the interest in the lending library and show its history since its launching. The author discusses its advantages and disadvantages of the solution and tries to answer the question of whether such forms of lending are necessary in modern libraries.