Features

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the Berkeley Public library has been a flashpoint since its inception more than two years ago, enraging some patrons, who say the identifiers allow “Big Brother” to track what people read and where they are if they’re carrying library books, and upsetting some library workers who say the system doesn’t work as it is supposed to and is devouring library funds better spent elsewhere. 

At the March Board of Library Trustees’ meeting, Lisa Hesselgesser, Service Employees International Union 535 shop steward, presented a list of 24 concerns library workers have about the technology. 

The system “is not working at all on CDs,” Hesselgesser told the Daily Planet in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s a scandal—the donut tags [used on CD cases] are really expensive.” 

Checking out books with the RFID system is mixed, she said. “Sometimes the tags fail; sometimes the equipment fails.” 

With the RFID system, a patron or a library staff member was supposed to be able to place a stack of books on the equipment and check the books out all at once. This would mean that a library worker would not have to pass one book at a time through the system all day long, thus reducing repetitive stress injuries to workers. Because the system does not consistently function properly, Hesselgesser said repetitive stress injuries are up, something of which Library Director Donna Corbeil says she is unaware. 

Tension between line staff and the previous director, who introduced RFID with little community input, was high, but Hesselgesser said under Corbeil’s leadership a task force has been set up to have “an open discussion on what’s not working” with respect to the RFID system. 

Still, Hesselgesser said she would like the Library Board of Trustees to do a formal study of the system, which, she said, cost the library $108,000 last year for supplies and equipment. 

In a phone interview Thursday, Corbeil told the Daily Planet that rather than undertaking a more formal study, she hopes to get the input she needs directly from the task force.  

“I think the system is generally working well,” she said. “Staff thinks some things need to be done for it to work better.” 

A solution, Hesselgesser said, would be to return to use of barcodes to check out books and use the funds spent on the RFID system on additional staff. 

“We had good technology that was working for us,” she said, noting that stress injuries using barcodes were reduced in 2004. 

A move away from the RFID system is a policy decision, Corbeil said. “Policy decisions are up to the board. I advise them—my job is to do the research,” she said. 

Susan Kupfer, chair of the Library Board of Trustees, did not return a Daily Planet call for comment, but Trustee Ying Lee said that she has observed that some library patrons like the RFID system, while others do not.  

“Some people like the human contact [of the old system] and others like to ‘zip-zip,’” she said, adding that she hopes the library will conduct a study to see whether the union concerns were valid. 

As for getting rid of the system altogether: “There aren’t the votes to cancel,” Lee said. 

In other library news, the Board of Trustee structure will be undergoing some scrutiny.  

Unlike most other boards and commissions in Berkeley, the library board is neither elected nor directly appointed by the City Council. It is composed of five members who traditionally name new members. The City Council, whose role it is to give final approval of new trustees, has traditionally rubberstamped the board’s selection.  

However, because of questions around the lack of community input into the RFID system and other concerns about board transparency, the directors and council have formed a task force to review library governance. Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Betty Olds and Trustees Ying Lee and Susan Kupfer are on the task force. They have not met and have no meeting scheduled.