Automation of library reshelving operations

The book circulation process in a library broadly consists of two tasks: (1 ) the data processing task which keeps track of the books and (2) the reshe lving task which includes activities such as collection of returned books, holding, sorting, and reshelving. In this paper a model for automating the reshelving operations is presented applying the concept of automated storag e and retrieval system (AS/RS). Although a fully automated reshelving syste m is technically feasible, such a system is prohibitively expensive. Theref ore a practical system which is a combination of automated and manual opera tions is proposed to place a user returned book in its appropriate location and carry out the associated data processing work. Experiments on a simula tion model demonstrate that a drastic reduction in the reshelving lead time is possible. The proposed system will significantly improve the performanc e of the reshelving operations and hence the customer service in a library.