Book Detection System in Municipal Library and Measurement of Its Effect

This paper investigates the installation of book detection systems (BDS) in central municipal libraries in Japan and the rate of lost books in these libraries. The effect of BDS is also evaluated by measuring cost reduction through decreasing the rate of lost books. It was found that the installation of BDS in all sampled libraries was less than 10%, while it was more than 40% among libraries with relatively new buildings constructed since 1995. Two thirds of these BDS cover limited areas where valuable library materials are kept. While the rate of lost books during the survey were found to be 1.33% in general, it was significantly lower in libraries with BDS covering all areas in library. Further, in terms of the cost measurement, BDS with limited coverage is found to be less effective than the BDS with full coverage. Lastly, based on the simulation of the survey data, it was found that 25% of municipal libraries consider the installation of BDS as cost-effective.