Loaning Laptops--cross post from Forum

[Linda McSweeney]

Apologies for duplicate post--just wanted to tag all the bases! We have 10 recycled (but run xp with MS Office) laptops we will be able to loan to students and faculty soon. Wondering if anyone has any policies, success stories (or not so successful!) to share. We have wireless in the library so students will be able to get to the internet. Many thanks, Linda in Vermont

[Nancy Latimer]

Hi Linda,

We have had a cart of 8 wireless laptops in our library for about 5 years now. Students are only allowed to use them in the library (we put security tags on them). We use them with small classes or loan them out to individual students for the period. When a student uses them, we require them to give us their student ID. Each laptop and laptop slot in the cart is numbered so if, for example, a student takes Laptop #2, we put their ID in slot #2. They get the ID back when they give us back the laptop. We have certain rules as well...no giving the laptop to someone else, no leaving the laptop unattended. If they break the rules, we do not allow them to borrow laptops from there on out. This system has worked very well for us.

Nancy Latimer
New Jersey

[Emily Auerswald]

I've loaned out laptops in a couple of libraries. By far the biggest issue was prolonging battery life, especially when they are in high use (like exam or paper-writing season). I've tackled this two ways, with varying success:

1. A cart - each slot in the cart was wired with a power brick, so when the laptop was returned, it was charging, with little fuss on our part. Down side: if it was returned with battery drained, it was a pain to get the brick out of the cart and lend it out with the laptop, and remember to make sure that we got it back, too - students were great at leaving the bricks under a chair.

2. Not in a cart - basically a stack of laptops, each plugged in to a power strip. It was easy to check them out with a power brick. Down side: you get a huge tangle of cords.

A last note on power: make sure that your outlets are easily accessible; I found that students were more than willing to move big, heavy furniture around to get to them. And then leave the furniture willy-nilly.

One other problem we ran into during high-use times was having students just hand the computer off to another student, rather than bringing it back to the desk. We spent a fair bit of time explaining how the student who had originally checked out the computer was still responsible for it once they gave it to their friend, so if their friend broke it, too bad... Once they understood that, we had a better return rate.

I'd recommend setting up a policy regarding misuse of the laptop. For example, if one of my students left the library without returning the laptop (i.e., left it on a table), they were not permitted to use the laptops for a week. We explained that use of a laptop was a privilege. They were, of course, still welcome to use desktop machines.

This may not be necessary, depending on your setup - but - I'd recommend checking for any spots in your library where your wireless signal may be weak. If you have any such dead areas, let your students know when you check out the machine.