The library is going the way of grocery stores and airport ticket counters: Do-it-yourself book check-out has arrived in Jackson County.

"Hey, that’s easy," said patron Marilyn Irons of Medford, trying the machine for the first time while checking out three books Friday at the Central Library in Medford.

She said she comes every three weeks to the library and imagines she’ll rely on self check-out a lot.

The library spent $90,000 from the Jackson County Library Foundation on five machines, according to Library Director Ronnie Budge. Two machines were installed in Medford’s library, one in Eagle Point and one in Ashland.

Budge said enough machines were purchased to put three in Medford, but library staff is judging the need.

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"We may put the fifth one in White City," she said.

The machines’ primary purpose is to alleviate long lines.

She said some self check-out machines are less expensive, but they don’t work with the library’s theft-detection gates. These machines allow patrons to "desensitize" the books’ theft-prevention devices and materials so they don’t set off the alarm going out the door. "That’s one of the things that makes them expensive," Budge said.

Library staff say the biggest problem so far is that people don’t know the machines are there.

Terii McDonald, who works at the circulation desk manually checking out patrons’ books, said when lines are long, staff and volunteers have been pointing out the new option.

Meghan O’Flaherty, headquarters library manager, said there are glitches still to be worked out. For example, right now the machines’ software won’t allow someone who owes even a tiny fine to check books out — even if the amount owed is only 10 cents. Staff is working on changing that to a $10 minimum.

She said first-time users are hesitant. "I think it’s just new technology that people don’t understand," O'Flaherty said.

To use the machines, which resemble overhead projectors, patrons must have their library card with them. They scan the card, scan the item (book, video, audio material), "desensitize" the item’s anti-theft device for the security alarm, and tear off a printout with the due dates.

And there’s more than just visual cues on the screen. "It actually talks to you — it has a little voice in it," said O’Flaherty.

New Medford resident Janette Rawcliffe said she has used the machine several times since it quietly appeared two weeks ago.

"I like it — I don’t have to stand in that long line," she said, pointing to a half-dozen people waiting at the circulation desk Friday.

Rawcliffe said she used similar machines at her old library in Ohio but said Jackson County’s seem more user-friendly.

She thought the machines were a bit inconspicuous.

"I think they just need to be advertised a little better," she said. "I just noticed it accidentally."

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com