Fairfield library to invest savings, reconsider RFID

FAIRFIELD — In a report to city council members Monday night, Fairfield Library Director Alecs Mickunas said the institution would invest revenue from a sold house in a Certificate for Deposit, rather than its previously planned uses.

The property was gifted to the library through the former owner’s will in 1996, and used as a rental property for decades thereafter, with income used for occasional maintenance and repairs, according to Mickunas.

The home’s sale in November of 2021 set library capital improvement accounts at over $82,000. That money was initially earmarked for installation of a high-tech RFID system: a technology that uses radio waves to identify and scan books from the catalog.

RFID’s main benefits include a streamlined self-checkout system and higher security to prevent theft, according to the director. When costs came in above $70,000, however, he said reconsideration was needed.

“I got to the point where I was asking myself, ‘Are we willing to pay potentially $100,000 to prevent whatever little theft might occur?’” Mickunas said at the March 27 council meeting.

Instead, he recommended lower-cost options to meet the aforementioned goals. One is a DIY self-checkout system using bar codes, which Mickunas said would cost less than $500, based on a similar setup installed at Waukee’s public library.

As for theft prevention, Mickunas said stealing from the library was uncommon, and that already-budgeted-for updates to the library’s antiquated security cameras would already solve for the issue, however severe it may — or may not — be.

“Our current camera surveillance system is really outdated, with really low-resolution images,” Mickunas told council members. “Some of the cameras are actually only showing images in black and white. And the drivers for accessing the footage online don’t even exist anymore.”

In the meantime, Mickunas said the library would use its over-$82,000 sum on a Certificate of Deposit with a local bank, rolling the interest back into its improvement budget after nine months.

After that, the library board will reconsider capital improvement needs. Mickunas said RFID had an HVAC installation competing for the top-priority spot.

“We’re planning on lessening the load for the city with this funding for capital improvements at some point, but I’m not sure when it will be,” he said in a follow-up interview. “It’s just part of the natural kind of aging process that the library needs repairs … this is just what happens with older buildings.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com