Public Library

The other day, I had my first experience with RMA for some hardware. Turns out, I had to print 2 things. The RMA instruction sheet and the shipping label. The shipping label part was easy. Apparently I could just go to the post office, provide the barcode, and they’d print the label for me.

That just left the RMA instruction sheet. My first thought was to print it at a nearby printing shop. Oops, they had a $5 minimum order. I just needed to print 1 page, not worth it.

Hmmm, I think my friend mentioned the library offers printing. A few quick searches later… Nice! My suburb’s library offers a printing service.

I swiftly moved to the nearest library and registered. It’s free and just needs the usual identity + home address proof like bills. The odd part is I had to spell out the new member password to the staff. Yeah probably some weird compromise between making it accessible and providing very minimal digital security.

Anyway, that part is done, I got my first ever physical library card!

Going straight to the web printing portal, I had to request desktop view from my phone¹. Otherwise it just shows my member number and balance. From here, it’s balance top-up ($0.20 for black and white) and file upload, yada yada².

But then I got stuck, the print job was waiting for release or something. The staff told me I had to go to the printer, scan my card barcode, and then operate the printer. Hmm, I probably missed that part in the instructions.

A few button presses later, I got my RMA instruction sheet!

Honestly, I’m surprised it worked. I had this image where the library is just a quiet place with a limited selection of books. And I would have to go to some internet cafe or dedicated printing shop to do this printing. But this one has a printing service, public computers, and nice staff! And this was a small library on some minor street.

Came in with low expectations, left a believer.