Society and Book Culture: Russia’s Ministry of Culture shapes library network with stock management based on RFID tags

Beginning from 2015 Russians will be able to borrow books in any state library using a single library card. In efforts to make the plan come true the Ministry of Culture is building a network of federal libraries which will use Radio Frequency Identification tags for stock management.

RFID tags enable to trace the book’s location on the shelf and its availability in the library. Book labeling employs passive tags (don’t have their own power source) which operate at 13,56 MHz. Unlike bar codes and magnetic stripes, RFID tags do not need to be within line of sight of the reader. Tags can transmit encoded data and are better protected from fake than alternative identification sources.

— In the future libraries may be equipped with “smart shelves” as well, — says Karina Abagyan, Marketing Director of “Sitronics Microelectronics” which is involved in book labeling practice. — The reader is built into the shelf where it scans books within the defined check period. Thus, the shelf will scan books available on it and send relevant data to the computer.