Photo by Neal Embry.
Eden Pfaffe, circulation clerk at the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest, works on Friday, May 10.
After hearing from residents about the need to have library services in the Cahaba Heights area, changes are coming.
Cinnamon McCulley, communications specialist for the city of Vestavia Hills, said the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest will begin offering a remote locker pickup system in Cahaba Heights at the New Merkel House.
“Patrons can go online and order books and we’ll deliver them to these lockers,” McCulley said.
The lockers are on their way and will be installed sometime this summer, McCulley said.. Patrons will receive a QR code to scan at the lockers to open them and drop off books at a number of locations in the area.
Patrons can also scan their library card, McCulley said, and books should be at the lockers within two to three days of being ordered. While the city doesn’t have the money for a standalone library in Cahaba Heights, the lockers will keep residents from having to drive to the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest on U.S. 31. McCulley noted the city is about 19 miles wide, making it somewhat inconvenient for Cahaba Heights residents to drive to the main location.
The lockers are funded in part by a $20,000 grant from the Library Services and Technology Act, and another $10,000 from the library fund. That money will also supply a vending machine at the library’s main location.
The library will also have to pay for the technology used to control the lockers, as they’ll have to connect to the Jefferson County Library Cooperative.
