Having been a patron at most (if not all) of the Washoe County Library System branches over the years, I was excited to try out the Library to Go Kiosk in Sun Valley, Nevada. It is a large, orange machine located at the entrance to the Sun Valley Neighborhood Center. This was a new experience for me, since I wasn’t aware of these outdoor kiosks until last year.
These automated kiosks are basically book vending machines (which also allow kiosk book returns), and they’re fun to use. Washoe County maintains three such kiosks, located in:
- Incline Village
- Sun Valley
- Cold Springs
About the Kiosk
The Library to Go Kiosks page on the Washoe County Library System’s website describes the kiosks and the Sun Valley kiosk, in particular, as follows:
“These kiosks offer convenient, self-serve library access to anyone with a Washoe County Library card. You can use them to place and pick up holds, browse their book collections, and return materials.”
“The Sun Valley Kiosk features materials in English and Spanish for all reading levels. Books checked out from this kiosk may be returned directly to the kiosk or to any Washoe County Library Branch.”
“For information about this kiosk, call the North Valleys Library at 775-972-0282 during their open hours.”
My Observations
By design, the kiosks have a limited selection, as there are only so many books you can place on the rotating platform that dispenses the books. The selection, however, is a good mix of books in both English and Spanish, and includes fiction, nonfiction, and children’s titles.
Sometimes the buttons on the screen are hard to press (meaning it doesn’t register your touch unless you press very firmly, or more than once), but it does work, although sometimes where you press and where it shows up on the screen are slightly misaligned, so you may need to press slightly above or below where you think you should press.
On one visit, I was unable to complete my transaction since the kiosk was having an internet connectivity issue at the time. I subsequently called the number provided, and it was quickly serviced and fixed (within a day or two). I was then able to use it again on my next visit.
Scanning my library card under the card reader took a few seconds to figure out on my initial visit, but is not an issue now. It’s fun to see the books rotate around, visible through the window when dispensing. The book selection is handled on the screen, with a menu filled with book titles and cover images being displayed in a grid. Paging through the menu is intuitive, and makes quickly finding something interesting very easy. Returning a kiosk book is also easy, but it will not accept non-kiosk books, so if you have a book from a different branch, they cannot be returned at a kiosk.
The servicing branch is the North Valleys Library, located next to Raley’s in Golden Valley. There is a phone number on the kiosk, just below the screen, to call with any questions, and a QR code to quickly get a library card account set up.
The library kiosk’s location is 115 W 6th Ave, Sun Valley, NV 89433. (Located at Sun Valley Community Park.) Open 7 days/week, during park hours.
All in all, it’s a fun experience to use the kiosk, and it sure beats driving out of the valley just to look for a new book to read. I would recommend that every Sun Valley resident try the kiosk at some point, as it’s a nice amenity to have here locally. 📚
