McKinney library has robots to help staff, customers – The Dallas Morning News

From helping staff get materials back in place to guiding patrons to their favorite book section, a McKinney library has two new assistants for the tasks.

The John and Judy Gay Library last week put two autonomous robots to work, making it the first library in the state to use them, according to the library’s director Spencer Smith.

“This is the first that we know of, as far as helping on the public floor,” Smith said. “Restaurants use them to deliver food. It’s the same technology.”

Unlike educational robots that teach children things like coding, the OrionStar robots made by Plano’s American Robotech, use laser technology to go between checkpoints at the library.

Visitors are encouraged to place books on the robot’s trays, and then it heads to the front of the library to a machine that checks in and sorts them.

Before the machine, Smith said library staff would spend 65 hours per week doing that task.

Smith said the robots are a perfect fit for the library, which he said is one of the busiest in the state.

“During the summer, our shelves look a mess,” he said. “We spend a lot of staff and volunteer time checking on that cart … when it’s really busy, walking through the library with the carts takes time.”

The robots free up time for staff to interact with customers. And human interaction is something artificial intelligence cannot replace.

When a customer says, “I’m looking for a book for my 14-year-old son,” and they mention which books their child likes and which ones didn’t go over so well, talking with a person matters, Smith said.

“For book recommendations, they want a human,” he said.

Seeing the robots meander around the library took some getting used to, but Smith said like all technology, “It’s weird at first but you rely on it in no time.”

Children have taken to the robots rather quickly and seem to have fun following them around the library.

The No. 1 question the kiddos ask? “What are their names?”

While they don’t have names yet, library staff is discussing ways to get the public involved in helping to pick ones that fit.

Librarian Tamara Biggio said her favorite part about her “new teammates” is seeing the reactions of her customers.

“I just love to see the looks on people’s faces when it moves,” she said. “It really gets the kids excited about technology. We are always trying to be at the cutting edge of technology when we can.”

Smith said the investment of $13,000 for each robot will pay off for years.

“It saves staff time, and they don’t take breaks,” he said with a chuckle.