The conveyor belt that moves and sorts books at the Halifax Central Library will soon be undergoing a rerouting, but the library’s director said it’s still working hard.

When you put a book in one of the slots outside the library on Spring Garden Road or Queen Street, the conveyer belt takes it up into the ceiling and into the circulation area, where it gets checked in and sorted.

The problem is two other slots – in the library’s vestibules on either side – don’t work.

“We found a traffic jam,” said director Bruce Gorman.

“If you put something in the outside slot, it runs a straight path up into the ceiling and then makes its way over to the sorting area, but the inside slot, sometimes when you put a book in there, it kind of alters the path.”

That meant a lot of “traffic jams” of books not making it upstairs.

In April, the vestibule slots were blocked off, with signs directing people to return their books in the outdoor slots or at the desk.