Team 55 will soon be opening a laptop kiosk.

Eric Lemmons, Team 55 manager, said the new kiosk will allow students to check out laptops through an automated system.

“Since Team 55 is not open all the times the library is open, we wanted to provide a way for students to check out laptops when we are not there,” he said. “It’s very much like a vending machine.”

At the kiosk, students will check out Macbook Airs by following the instructions on the screen. They must keep the laptops within the library and can use them for a maximum of four hours.

“The goal is for them to have something they can take to a quiet corner of the library and work on a paper or project,” Lemmons said. “When students return the laptops, they will receive more instructions on how to insert them into the kiosk which has built in battery chargers. If there are any problems with the laptop, they use the kiosk to make comments and Team 55 will be notified of the issue.

This kiosk is supplied by Laptops Anytime and is only available at a few universities.

“It’s basically a new technology that we are trying to figure out,” said Kay Reeves, executive director of information technology at ACU.

Because it is so new, there are still several steps to be taken before it can be opened.

“We’re currently in the process of working out authentication,” Lemmons said.

They have not yet decided whether only a username and password will be required or if student ID cards will be more secure, Lemmons said.

Lemmons and Reeves have a goal for the kiosk to be available during finals week, but hope it will be open earlier.

“That’s when business really picks up in the library,” Reeves said.

For now, students can can expect the laptop kiosk to b open by finals week.