Smart Card Library Cards and RFID Labels for Books

Library in France Goes Hi-Tech

05/03 - ASK S.A. announced that the company has started shipping 1.7 million C.label(R) contactless smart labels to the 17 public libraries of Marseille, including the brand new library of Alcazar, France. Working with its partners Cybernetix and Tyco/Sensormatic France for the Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) anti-theft system, ASK deployed an innovative end-to-end RFID Automated Library Management System, today's most advanced library solution worldwide.

The library uses the system and the C.label RFID technology for managing, tracking and securing their entire inventory of over 1.5 million items. All assets such as books, CDs, audiocassettes, videocassettes and DVDs will have a C.label, a self-adhering paper-based sticker with a contactless chip and the EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) device inside. It also ensures the secure management and loyalty application of the 150,000 library subscribers with contactless cards. 

ASK also developed desktop terminals and smart card readers for self-service automatic machines to borrow and return items.

Here's how it works. Each of the library system's 150,000 borrowers has a contactless C.ticket card from ASK. These customers can borrow or return assets within a split second just putting down the pile of items and the card on the reader, a self-service terminal developed by ASK.

The ASK C.label system is extremely fast and can complete transactions for 100 assets within one second, setting a new standard for high-speed contactless RFID technology. This C.label also has an anti-fraud function to prevent theft. An anti-theft detection gate at the exit with a one-meter read range will detect items that have not been checked out and an alarm will be activated.

Another use of the system is inventory control. Entire shelves can be rapidly scanned to find or log individual items. This is useful for taking inventory, finding missing items and identifying misfiled items, a common and labor-intensive problem to correct in a library. The high speed of the contactless transactions between the C.scan reader and C.label makes this a very fast operation; a librarian can scan an entire shelf at normal walking speed.