Smart Library
HKC builds complete RFID smart libraries on LIBRA, its Library RFID Automation System — self-service borrowing, automated returns and sorting, robotic stock take, 24-hour dispensers and lockers, security gates, book sterilisation and AR reading zones. Every element reads the same RFID tag and reports into one web-based platform, so a library can start with one station and grow into a fully automated service.
Made by HKC
manufacture by HKC
What is smart library?
A smart library is one where every item carries an RFID tag, so borrowing, returning, sorting, locating and auditing happen automatically — without a member of staff handling each transaction.
LIBRA integrates RFID technologies with web-based applications to produce an efficient, ideal and self-service library environment. The system benefits both users and librarians, resulting in more up-to-date inventory information, reduced labour costs, higher productivity and an enhanced level of customer service.
The practical effect is where librarian time goes. Issuing loans, discharging returns, re-shelving, shelf reading and the annual stock take are all work that machines do faster and more consistently.
What is left for staff is the part that needs a person — helping patrons, running programmes and developing the collection.
Manufacturer and systems integrator
HKC makes the library hardware and integrates it. One company is accountable for the whole system, from the plant where each unit is built to the circulation desk where it goes live.
Engineered in-house
HKC designs LIBRA hardware and software together, so enclosures, RFID antennas, screens and the management platform are built to work as one system.
Built in-house
Units are assembled, wired and tested in HKC's own facility. Quality, lead times and spare parts stay under HKC's control, not a third party's.
Connected to your systems
HKC installs the hardware and connects it to your library management system, existing RFID tags, network and access control, drawing on more than 55 years in ICT.
Local Support
Local engineers in Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore, with parts and upgrades supplied straight from the plant that built the equipment.
The whole library, connected
From the entrance gate to the 24-hour kiosk on the outside wall, every touchpoint in the building reads the same tag and writes to the same record.
The Products
Each one deploys on its own, and all of them share the same item data layer.
24 Hr Self-Service Library
Self Check In/Out Station
Self Check In/Out Station
Integrating HF and UHF technologies, it offers a migration path that benefits both librarians and patrons.
Books Return & Sorting Unit
Books Return & Sorting Unit
Customisable sorting that accurately files returned materials into pre-defined categories.
LIBRA Stock Take Robot
Swiftly scans and tracks large volumes of RFID-tagged items on shelves
Smart Bookshelf
Front Desk Work Station
Front Desk Work Station
The staff-side core of an RFID library: circulation desk and tag conversion station in one.
24 Hr Books Return Unit
24 Hr Books Return Unit
Swiftly scans and tracks large volumes of RFID-tagged items on shelves
Book Sterilizer
Reservation Dispenser
Reservation Dispenser
A 24-hour smart library service with no borrowing time limit, placed where the readers already are.
RFID Handheld Device
Self Service Information Kiosk
Self Service Information Kiosk
Automatically scrubs, mops and navigates commercial floor space
AI Vision Stock Take Robot
AI image-processing pipeline scans shelves and reads stock automatically
Express Smart Sorter
Express Smart Sorter
High-throughput sorting that runs around the clock behind the returns wall.
Reservation Locker
Reservation Locker
Borrow or return books and equipment at any hour, from a locker bank rather than a desk.
RFID Security Gate
Detects items leaving that were never issued, and keeps a record of what passed through.
A Star Wars pop-up library at Changi Airport, run by zero staff
An unstaffed pop-up library in Singapore Changi Airport, with RFID collection management and automated retrieval handling borrowing, returns and stock accuracy end to end.
Supply of RFID system to public library
HKC was awarded a tender for the supply of RFID Intelligent Library Management System to the Hong Kong Public Libraries of the Leisure and Culture Services Department.
Tell us the task, not the robot
Describe the work you want automated — what moves, how often, how far, and how many people it takes today. That is enough for HKC to say which robot fits, whether the numbers work, and what a pilot would involve.
contact_hkcgroup@hkc.net
Call Us
+852 2527 8822
Office Address
14/F., Block B, Vita Tower, 29 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong