Gray Turner, ’08, takes the library’s new Segway out for a practice run.

Device delivers for library

Student assistants in Boatwright Memorial Library are on the move.

Several student workers are training on the library’s recently purchased Segway PT i2—a “two-wheeled, self-balancing electronic transportation device” introduced to the public in 2001. Once their training is completed, students will use the Segway to deliver books and items from the Media Resource Center to faculty and staff throughout campus.

“We talked about getting one for about a year,” said Paul Porterfield, head of the MRC. “Some other colleges have been using them, but we are probably the first in Virginia.”

While the MRC has been delivering items to classrooms for many years, it now has a total document delivery system available to faculty (and staff on a trial basis). Turnaround time is 24 hours or the next business day, and there is no charge for the service.

Previously, Porterfield said, students donned backpacks and walked items around the campus.

The Segway has cargo bags for holding materials. Student drivers must wear a helmet and undergo training, including watching a training video, before they will be certified to operate the Segway, said Porterfield.

Invented by Dean Kamen and produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, Segways use computers and motors to stay upright. An internal gyroscope detects departure from perfect balance.

Segway “drivers” can move about 13 mph and lean forward or backward to start or stop. Leaning to the right or left enables them to turn.

The device is currently being used by police departments, theme parks, post offices, warehouses, utility companies and other businesses.