Diebold Installing System in Library

Diebold Inc. will install a smart card system in the new main library of Hickory, N.C., which the vendor said will be the nation's first public library to use the technology.

After installation this quarter, an estimated 19,000 patrons will be able to use the Gemplus Corp.-manufactured cards to operate copy machines, pay fines, and check materials out of the library.

Libraries are good places to introduce smart cards to the public, "particularly if the basic functions can be used for other stored-value applications," said Jerome Svigals, a consultant and smart-card advocate in Redwood City, Calif.

"The biggest benefit is the added convenience for library patrons, since smart card transactions typically take one-quarter of the time required for other payment methods, " said Douglas R. Ettenborough, corporate marketing manager for card systems at Diebold.

Each card will bear the user's photograph and bar codes for the library's circulation system.

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