Source: Berkeley Daily Planet
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.