News Release

San Francisco – The San Francisco Public Library Commission is considering the possibility of implementing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as a technology to manage and inventory library materials. A public forum will be held on RFID on Thursday, March 4, in the Main Library’s Koret Auditorium from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Presenters for the RFID Forum will be:

• Ann Brick, ACLU, Northern California Chapter
• Jackie Griffin, Library Director, Berkeley Public Library
• Gail McPartland, Assistant Director, Peninsula Library System
• David Molnar, Electrical Engineering/Computer Sciences Department, UC Berkeley
• Laura Quilter, Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley
• Lee Tien, Senior Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation

RFID is being implemented in libraries across the country, including Berkeley Public Library, the new San Mateo Public Library, and the new Seattle Public Library; more than fifty libraries in the U.S. are already up and running. The technology is also used in other industries, including retail, where it is used for inventory and sales transactions.

RFID in libraries helps speed up check out and check in of books and other library materials. A microchip in the materials can be scanned without opening the materials, reducing repetitive stress injuries that result from using barcode wands. The technology enhances the ease of self check-out, and improves inventory tracking of materials. For library users who have been frustrated by trying to find misplaced materials, RFID would expedite recovery. With the type of system being explored by San Francisco, the chip would not include the titles of the materials being checked out or the name of the borrower.

This forum is being held in response to questions raised by the Commission about how the technology works and how it is applied within a library setting.

For more information, please call 415 557-4277.