Libraries are increasingly required to balance service quality and staff availability with growing demand for extended access. Students and researchers often have fragmented schedules, making the ability to collect books outside standard library opening hours increasingly important.

Opening hours inevitably remain an organizational constraint that both libraries and their users need to manage.

At Sapienza University of Rome, within the Faculty of Humanities, this scenario has changed. WIB Smart Lockers have been integrated with Sebina, Dot Beyond‘s comprehensive suite for managing and delivering library services, transforming book collection into an automated service that is also available outside regular library opening hours.

The Technology Partners Behind the Project

The Sapienza project is the result of collaboration between three companies with complementary expertise.

ISNG, acting as reseller partner and technology intermediary, supported the local implementation, integration and software development. WIB provided the Smart Locker infrastructure, designed to communicate with third-party management systems in real time via APIs. Dot Beyond, through Sebina, provided the comprehensive software suite for the management and delivery of library services.

Together, these technologies created a fully integrated automated book pickup solution.

The Challenge

The traditional library lending model requires users to visit the service desk during opening hours. For students, researchers and anyone balancing university life with work or other commitments, this often means postponing or giving up a book collection—or organizing their day around library opening hours rather than their own schedule.

The solution developed for Sapienza was designed to make book pickup independent of library opening hours, without requiring staff assistance at the time of collection.

How SebinaNEXT Integrates with WIB Smart Lockers

The entire process is digitalized and based on real-time API integration between Sebina and WIB Smart Lockers.

Users submit a loan request or reservation directly through Sebina and select the Smart Locker as their preferred pickup point. The system automatically checks compartment availability and, if space is available, reserves a compartment and generates two separate codes: one for the librarian depositing the book and another for the user collecting it.

Once the book has been placed inside the locker, the user receives an email notification. They can then visit the Smart Locker at their convenience, enter their personal code and collect the book.

The loan is automatically recorded in the library management system, with no additional manual steps required.

What Makes the Project Innovative

Several features distinguish this integration from a simple automated storage solution.

When all compartments are occupied, the system automatically manages the queue, helping prevent bottlenecks during periods of high demand.

Users can also choose between higher or lower compartments, an important feature that improves accessibility for people with specific needs.

Every stage of the process is supported by automatic notifications.

In addition, several automated processes operate in the background, including compartment status monitoring, deposit and pickup registration, management of books that are not collected within the specified timeframe, and report generation. These reports provide library staff with valuable data to monitor service performance.

What Changes for Students and Librarians

For users reserving a book, the main advantage is clear: self-service book pickup, shorter waiting times and a simple digital experience from reservation to collection.

For libraries, the benefits are equally tangible. Manual activities at the service desk are reduced, reservation management becomes more efficient, document status is monitored automatically, and staff can dedicate more time to higher-value activities rather than managing book pickup logistics.

The Value for Sapienza and University Library Services

The integration between SebinaNEXT and WIB Smart Lockers represents a concrete step towards the digital transformation of academic library services.

Sapienza has introduced a more accessible, automated and user-oriented library model, aligned with the needs of students and researchers whose schedules are increasingly difficult to reconcile with traditional public-service opening hours.

By combining library automation, real-time software integration and self-service book pickup, Smart Lockers can extend access to library services without requiring a corresponding extension of staffed opening hours.