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Operational failures in library's AMH unit force staff-time trade-offs, board hears
Summary
Library staff reported repeated mechanical failures of the AMH unit caused by user misuse, unreliable system alerts and pending signage approval; management told the board that reinstalling an exterior drop is an option but would require about four hours a day of staff time, creating staffing-cost or program-resource trade-offs.
Library staff informed the Saratoga Springs Library Board on May 12 that the library's AMH unit has experienced repeated mechanical failures and unreliable alerting, largely attributed in the minutes to ongoing user misuse of the equipment.
The minutes report that users have been stacking items and ignoring the light-guidance system (red light/green light), which causes the unit's belt to push items back; when users then insert more items the mechanism becomes jammed and some components fail. Staff said system alerting (email/text notifications) has been unreliable during downtime and that signage designs submitted to the Planning Department in February remain pending approval.
Management presented possible mitigations to City Administration, including reinstalling the old exterior drop and addressing vendor support tickets, but emphasized no "perfect" solution is immediately available. The minutes state returning to an exterior drop would require roughly four hours of daily staff time to empty, which would increase staffing costs or require redirecting staff from programming and cataloging.
The board did not take formal action at the meeting; staff are expected to continue working with the vendor, pursue signage approvals, and report back with recommendations or a proposed staffing plan.
