Oak Creek Library Plans Smart Lockers To Pick Up Items After Hours

OAK CREEK, WI — The Oak Creek Public Library is planning a new outdoor smart locker system for patrons to pick up books and other items, according to documents submitted to the city's Plan Commission.

The Milwaukee County Federated Library System awarded a grant to the Oak Creek library to purchase the automated locker system in spring 2022, according to plan documents. The lockers would be installed near the library's entrance on 6th Street. The Oak Creek Plan Commission is scheduled to review the plan on Tuesday.

The lockers are geared toward people who may work, have health issues, or have limited time during the library's open hours, and will meet "an immediate need for the contactless, on-demand service that our community expects in a post pandemic world," reads the library's proposal.

The 17-door locker system would be open all the time, allowing people to pick up books and other items when the library is closed, as well as when it is open, according to plan documents.

The library said it "strongly believes that contactless service options will be a permanent fixture expected and demanded by our patrons moving forward," and that the locker system will continue the convenience with less of a hassle for library workers and patrons.