Bentonville Public Library Unveils their "Bookie Monster" AMH System

‍“We have been a Tech Logic customer for 18 years. We appreciate their position in the industry as a company that places the quality of their products and services and the importance of their customers and staff above all else.” —Courtney Fitzgerald, Head of Circulation Services, Bentonville (AR) Public Library  

With almost 100 years of operation, the Bentonville Public Library (BPL) recently celebrated an expansion of its 38,000 square foot library that opened in 2006. Located in Bentonville’s historic Downtown Square district, the library engages its community, encourages discovery, and promotes literacy with lifelong learning opportunities.  

With a population of 61,000, Bentonville is located in one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. It is the home of Walmart, one of the largest retailers in the world, and a center of commerce and entrepreneurialism in northwest Arkansas. Population growth of 2.6% each year has created unprecedented growth for the library in print and digital circulation across all collections and a high demand for programming for all ages.  One of those events, GeekCon, celebrates all things “geeky” in themed festivities such as comic book art, Superhero Story Times, and Marvel movies and video games.  

Before the expansion, BPL was rapidly outgrowing its building. It couldn’t expand its collections and operations needed more space and new ways to improve efficiencies. Courtney Fitzgerald, Head of Circulation Services, has been with BPL for more than 14 years starting as a volunteer.  “Outgrowing our 2006 building was a wonderful problem to have,” she noted. “as it meant that our library was well loved and well used.”  

In 2020, BPL conducted a needs assessment with 872 residents giving feedback in 22 public meetings on the improvements they’d like to see.

• More meeting rooms and study spaces.

• Separate spaces for adults, children, and teens for creation, exploration, and reflection, plus noise control.  

• Larger outdoor community programming space to accommodate larger events.  

• Added space for collections.  

• Additional hands-on learning spaces such as Maker Spaces and Learning Labs.  

• Larger staff work areas to handle increased operations.  

In 2021, the library published its needs assessment and embarked on a library expansion project. Fundraising efforts included bonds and private funds from the Bentonville Library Foundation. Ultimately the library contracted with Flintco Construction and MSR Design for preconstruction services, broke ground in the Spring of 2023, and celebrated the opening of the newly constructed spaces in October 2024.  

The renovation of the staff workroom and circulation desk included dedicated space to expand their Tech Logic three-bin sorting system to a nine-bin totalAMH system. Tech Logic installed the totalAMH in May 2024 and, according to Courtney, “We’ve been in love with it ever since.”  

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Check out this awesome time-lapse video BPL recorded of the totalAMH install.

The new Tech Logic totalAMH delivers a number of added benefits for the library.  

• A viewing window so patrons can see their new AMH in action.

• Nine bins, as opposed to three, to spread out returns for faster shelving. Before, everything was sorted into one of three bins. Now some of their more popular books have their own designated bins. As Courtney explained, “there is less guesswork and time now to find items by searching through the bins.”  

• “Another amazing feature of this system is that it is expandable,” Courtney said. If BPL needs to expand the sorter to handle growth, they can do that with expansion modules instead of replacing the system.  

• Courtney noted, “The 97.28% success rate of the AMH is phenomenal. It very rarely, if ever, misses anything. It can check in more than 1,400 items an hour, which we tested on the day we reopened with more than 8,000 items checked in. It didn’t miss a beat.”  

• BPL has also enjoyed time savings with the sorter's efficiency. According to their calculations, they are saving three hours of manual sorting time per day—time that is reallocated to patron services.  

With such exciting improvements due to the expansion, library leadership knew they needed to share their story with the Bentonville community. Tara Cloud Clark, the library’s new Marketing Specialist, focused her efforts on community engagement. The leadership team defined three goals for marketing the library’s expansion project.  

1. Connect the community to the improvements, informationally but also emotionally.
   The community had seen the construction plans and knew that tax revenues were funding the project. “We wanted to engage the community,” Tara elaborated, “and make an emotional connection.”  
   

2. Redirect attention away from construction, detours, and delays. “There was so much construction going on that it was a bit messy for a long time,” she explained.  

3. Reinvigorate relations with the City Council and Mayor. “Since construction is often a multi-year process, local officials are working on it and hearing about it. It’s great for them to see some excitement in the community,” Tara said.  
   

BPL met its marketing goals by sharing stories through social media and engaging with the local press. One of its most successful marketing efforts was a naming contest for its new AMH. The library polled their community both online and in person to generate 114 contest entries and more than 500 votes. Some of the top entries included TyrannoSORTus Rex, Bookbot, R2Book2, Chewbooka, Bookworm, Dewey, and Beast. The winning entry was Bookie Monster, submitted by Kelsie Lane and Christine Salley (pictured below).  

The Bookie Monster is now a beloved feature at BPL for patrons of all ages, especially children. They love to talk to and even pet Bookie Monster. Overall, BPL is thrilled with its new Tech Logic totalAMH.  Courtney said, “My staff and I love the ease of use. We don’t have to think or worry—Bookie Monster just does his thing.”

We’re so happy that we could partner with Bentonville Public Library by providing a nine-bin totalAMH that increases their efficiency, peace of mind, and community engagement.  

Tech Logic connects libraries with their communities through dynamic, innovative, and efficient workflow technologies—delivering unparalleled service and outstanding patron experience. Since 1997, we have worked exclusively with libraries to develop solutions that empower library patrons and staff.