Efficiency through Curbside Communicator

Duluth Public Library is a three-branch library system that has been hit hard by the COVID outbreak. Looking to find efficiency through curbside service, the library was quick to adopt it to provide their physical assets to the public beginning in April. Due to staffing reductions and process and policies needed, service has been reduced to a single downtown location.

Duluth’s adoption of curbside service began with setting appointments and having patrons call in when they arrived. The staff time devoted to this process meant a maximum of 70 patrons could be served each day.

Library Moves to No Appointment Curbside Pickup

By simplifying the pickup process with Unique’s Curbside Communicator, Duluth was able to adopt a no appointment needed process beginning in June and discovered efficiency through curbside. Patrons now simply check in when they arrive at the library. This change has uncapped their capacity and it has been met with an increased demand from patrons ready to access the library’s resources at their convenience, just in time for summer reading. The reduced workload on staff has allowed Duluth to expand their hours of service and reallocate staff to other projects outside of curbside pickup.

Quote:

“Curbside Communicator has been going really well for us. Staff are catching on easily and it has streamlined our process so much. When we were taking appointments we could serve about 70 patrons a day. Yesterday we doubled that number. And our staff time devoted to curbside is less and this is freeing us up for other things.” – Byron Johnson, Circulation Supervisor