How Princh reduced administrative burdens and cash payments at Randers Library

Located in eastern Jutland, Randers is Denmark’s sixth largest city with more than 60,000 inhabitants. The library in Randers consists of a main library in connection with the local art museum and three other libraries around the municipality. In 2014, the total number of loans per year amounted to 1.250.000 and its annual attendance reached 705.000. Randers Library has always been at the forefront of innovation at Danish libraries and in 2002, Randers was the first library to launch e-book loans in Denmark.

Before introducing Princh, Randers Library didn’t have any sort of printing system to support the users or staff at the library. “For many years, users who wanted to print had to ask the staff and then pay in cash at the info desk. We spent quite a bit of time and resources on this”, explains Hans Nielsen, development manager at Randers Library.

The increasing use of unmanned opening hours also made it difficult to offer printing when there was no staff available to handle physical payment from users. There were also other issues such as users leaving the library without paying. It was uncomfortable for the staff to confront such users.

Finally, the level of paper waste was quite high because users tended to print more test print jobs as there was no payment control. Implementing a proper printing system had often been discussed at Randers Library, but the expensive cost of implementing such a solution was simply too high. “Some options cost as much as 100.000 DKK plus annual support and service contract fees”, adds Hans Nielsen.

Princh instantly appealed to the staff at Randers Library as it is free to install. In addition to this, the simplicity of the system was a pleasant surprise – especially in terms of constant updates and new features. “Princh allows us to stay up to date without any investment due to the continuous software updates and its flexible printing service”, says Hans Nielsen.

In addition, it has been important to Randers Library that the system is easy for all library user groups incl. elderly with limited IT-knowledge. The system allows users to print form three device types: Users own iOS and Android smartphones & tablets, a browser solution for users’ laptops, and a desktop app for the library computers.

Randers Library implemented Princh’s full solution in early November 2015. After launching the service, the staff recognized they are saving a lot of time not having to assist their users in need of printing.

“The service has benefited everyone. Users don’t need to sign up in the system and, as the payment method is electronic, library staff does not need to handle any payments or deposit money in the bank. Now, they have more time to help users with borrowing books and doing research”, points out Hans Nielsen.