Bangalore University goes hi-tech to safeguard its library

Bangalore University will introduce Radio Frequency Identity (RFID) devices to trap students who steal books from its library. The system will be operational from January next year.

RFID is currently being used in various shopping malls to identify customers who take the merchandise out without paying the bills.

“With the help of the new system we can easily track the students who try to steal books from the library,” said an official working in the library.

The BU library has a collection of over three lakh books. “Many books have gone missing from the library. We cannot check each and every student visiting the library. We need to have a system in place to do that,” said a library staffer.

“Many students who borrow the books for reference or to prepare assignments are not returning them and many others are even keeping back pages from them. According to our observation, many students do this to prevent others from gaining access to the books,” the staff member added. 

RFID would help stop such practices, another official working in the library said. “If anyone tries to take a book outside he/she will be caught at the entrance gate. We are installing the RFID antenna at both the entrances of the library. The antenna will produce a beep sound whenever a book is taken outside without registration,” he said.

“We have designed the RFID sticker with BU symbol on it and they will be pasted on the second page of each book. There is a possibility that student may remove the sticker or the page. To catch them, we will also paste one more RFID sticker on a page which students may not be able to recognise,” the official added.
The exercise will cost the university Rs20 lakh approximately. The varsity will pay the expenditure for the existing books in its library, while in case of the new books, the suppliers will have to  bear the expenses. “Books which cost less than Rs200 will have only one RFID sticker. Each sticker will cost a minimum of Rs20. The University is planning to call tenders for the purpose,” the official said.

Meanwhile, after several years, the university has started stock verification at the library. After the completion of the process, the university will have a complete picture of missing books.