LONDON, ON - On March 21, 1664, Canada held its first census and recorded 3,000 inhabitants. On March 21, 2002, 3M Canada Company is encouraging library users to “stand up and be counted”during its fifth annual 3M™ SelfCheck™ Census Day contest.

Patrons of both public and academic libraries with 3M™ SelfCheck™ Systems are invited to use the self-service terminals in a nation-wide contest to determine which library’s patrons are the most self-sufficient. Each library must have a minimum of 100 patrons checking out their materials with a SelfCheck™ System on the day of the Census. After the event, the libraries will submit a census (a.k.a. statistics report) to 3M Canada and a draw will be made in April 2002 to award two $1,000 prizes.

“We want to provide Canadian libraries with the opportunity to re-energize the use of their 3M™ SelfCheck™ Systems on an annual basis,” says Kathleen McLeod, project manager, Library Systems at 3M. “This contest creates across-Canada challenge and provides focus and fun for patrons and library staff alike.”

Last year’s winning libraries were the Scarborough College library located at University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario and the Greater Victoria Public Library in Victoria, British Columbia.

Operating much like a bank’s Automatic Banking Machine, the 3M™ SelfCheck™ System allows library patrons to independently checkout and renew materials, in privacy. By allowing patrons to check out their own materials, library staff are free to devote time to other library tasks and enhancing library services. This library self-service concept, first initiated at 3M Canada, is the most advanced, fully featured patron checkout system available today and can now be found in over 3,000 libraries around the world.

3M Canada Company was established in 1951 as one of the first international subsidiaries of the 3M Company. 2001 sales reached $995 million Canadian. It employs more than 2,000 people across Canada, who manufacture and market more than 50,000 products serving industrial, commercial, and consumer markets. The global leader in library security for nearly 30 years, 3M protects literally billions of individual items in thousands of libraries throughout the world.

For further information, contact 3M Canada Company, Library Systems / Materials Flow Management, P.O. Box 5757, London, Ontario N6A 4T1 or call 1-800-265-1840 ext. 6095 or email kmmcleod1@3m.com.

Contact 3M Canada PR department.

3M and SelfCheck are trademarks of 3M. Used under license in Canada.