Library RFID Self-Checkout & Koha ILS Case Study

JNL Library in New Delhi is a major academic facility with high daily traffic from students. The library staff spent over 70% of their work hours manually scanning barcodes on individual books at the checkout counters, leading to long queues during peak study hours. The university wanted to automate circulation by letting students check out their own books via an interactive self-checkout kiosk, while maintaining high security against book theft.

RFID Softwares designed and deployed a High-Frequency (HF) RFID system operating at 13.56 MHz (ISO 15693). Every book was labeled with a square HF RFID library tag. A custom self-service checkout kiosk was installed in the central lobby, allowing students to place a stack of up to 5 books on the reader tray and complete checkouts in under 10 seconds. We also installed HF RFID security gates at the exit doors, which automatically detect un-issued books passing through.

The system utilizes our advanced hardware components, including the HF RFID Security Gate for reliable theft detection, the HF RFID Self-Service Kiosk with built-in touchscreens and card scanners, and the HF Desktop Reader at the librarian's desk for administrative tagging. Since HF RFID supports multi-tag anti-collision, books do not need line-of-sight scanning, allowing instant stack identification.

The HF RFID integration has transformed JNL Library. Long checkout queues have been eliminated, with checkout times reduced to under 10 seconds. Over 85% of circulation transactions are now handled independently by students at the kiosk, allowing library staff to focus on cataloging and student support. The HF exit gates monitor transactions with 100% accuracy, preventing loss of expensive reference textbooks.

JNL Library in New Delhi serves thousands of students daily. To streamline circulation without manual barcode scanning, RFID Softwares integrated HF 13.56 MHz RFID readers with their KOHA Integrated Library System (ILS) using NCIP/SIP2 protocol commands. The software validates student ID cards and updates circulation status instantly.

Two self-checkout kiosks feature high-speed HF pad readers equipped with anti-collision algorithm firmware. Patrons simply place a stack of books on the kiosk pad, scan their student RFID card, and receive a printed or digital receipt.

Average issue/return transaction times dropped from 2 minutes down to under 10 seconds per patron. Circulation desk queues were eliminated during peak exam preparation months.