Locker
A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, middle and high schools, transport hubs and the like. They vary in size, purpose, construction, and security. General description and characteristics. Lockers are normally quite narrow, of varying heights and tier arrangements. Width and depth usually conform to standard measurements, although non-standard sizes are occasionally found. Public places with lockers often contain large numbers of them, such as in a school. They are usually made of painted sheet  metal. The characteristics that usually distinguish them from other types of cabinet or cupboard or storage container are: Lockers are usually physically joined side by side in banks, and are commonly made from steel, although wood, laminate, and plastic are other materials sometimes found. Steel lockers which are banked together share side walls, and are constructed by starting with a complete locker; further lockers may then be added by constructing the floor, roof, rear wall, door, and just one extra side wall, the existing side wall of the previous locker serving as the other side wall of the new one . The walls, floors, and roof of lockers may be either riveted together (the more traditional method) or, more recently, welded together. Locker doors usually have some kind of ventilation to provide for the flow of air to aid in cleanliness. These vents usually take the form of a series of horizontal angled slats at the top and bottom of the door, although sometimes parallel rows of small square or rectangular holes are found instead, running up and down the door. Less often, the side or rear walls may also have similar ventilation. Locker doors usually have door stiffeners fixed vertically  to the inside of the door, in the form of a metal plate welded to the inner surface, and protruding outward a fraction of an inch, thus adding to the robustness of the door and making it harder to force open. Lockers are often manufactured by the same companies who produce filing cabinets, stationery cabinets (occasionally wrongly referred to as lockers, steel shelving, and other products made from sheet steel. Variable characteristics of lockers. There are a number of features or characteristics which may vary in lockers. Because purchasers will need to specify what they want in each of these  when ordering, it is more common to order a particular configuration rather than buy "off the shelf" in a shop, although certain very common configurations can be found in shops fairly easily. These features include: The evolution of lockers. Historically, lockers have been a space to store personal belongings secured by various locking mechanisms. The earliest modern lockers were simple ‘box with a lock’ type device likely used for sporting purposes. The ‘locker room’ was a place for athletes to store their clothing, belongings and equipment temporarily. People could retrieve their items by using their specific key assigned to them  when they selected the locker space. As lockers became more commonplace, they started appearing in educational facilities, hospitals, gymnasiums and in the workplace. Lockers initially were cabinet-like and made of wood and later made of steel and metal. Lockers have since evolved with peoples needs and breakthrough technologies. Today lockers can be manufactured out of various materials and to suit the décor of the environment they are in. Metal, steel, plastic, wood and fabricated wood are all popular materials that are used. The lock mechanism on a locker has especially evolved with the induction of new technologies. The movement  from a large padlock and key to an electronic system, illustrates how lockers have adopted smart technology. Smart technology allows lockers to be digital, flexible in use and equipped with various features to improve the user experience. Smart lockers are digitally managed storage banks which makes the experience of acquiring and using a locker fast and efficient. Whether it's controlled by a mobile phone app or a touchless kiosk, the technology allows for automation throughout the entire process/workflow. Types and applications. Traditional lockers. There are a number of less standard lockers that are offered by various manufacturers. These  include: Intelligent Lockers. After the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019, office workers only went into offices for part of their working week for social distancing. Hybrid working, defined as “team or organisation work part of their time at the workplace and part remotely”, has made the workplace more flexible. The reduced number of employees coming to the office made companies start cutting cost and the space of their offices, and looking for technologies that can enhance their workplace productivity, efficiency, and employee experience. With the rise of hybrid working, traditional lockers no longer serves the purpose for a modern workplace that  empowers its people. Agile lockers is a new term that used for an agile workplace, where employee experiences are being prioritised while saving office space and cost. Doorless designs. There are also several types of doorless locker design including those that are cylindrical, spherical and cone-shaped. One such design eliminates the use of doors by offering a cylinder open at the front to receive items and can then be rotated to secure the contents. Abolition of lockers. Some schools in the United States have been reported to have abolished the use of lockers. Security concerns are cited as the  reason for this, with the concern being that lockers may be used to store contraband such as weapons, drugs or pornographic material. There has been some controversy over in what circumstances school authorities or law-enforcement officials are permitted to search lockers, with or without informing the users, or with or without the users being present at the time of the search, and it has been considered a civil liberties issue, particularly in the U.S. Other advocates of lockerless schools also cite reasons such as reducing noise by eliminating the clang of dozens of locker doors, or creating a more  appealing environment aesthetically. It has also been claimed that removing lockers provides good training for students by forcing them to be more efficient in managing their books, and taking the time to plan what books they will need, and carrying only those ones. In schools without lockers, students are sometimes provided with two complete sets of textbooks, one set being kept at school for use in class, and the other being kept at home for referring to for homework, thus limiting the amount of heavy carrying that would otherwise be required without having lockers to store them in between classes . However, research has shown an increase in the incidence of back injuries in some students, which has been directly attributed to the lack of lockers for storing books in, thus forcing students to spend more time carrying heavy loads of books in backpacks. Some students oppose the abolition of lockers, arguing that their locker is one of the few private spaces they have in an environment which is otherwise communal and impersonal. Coin-operated public luggage lockers can be present in bus stations and rail stations. In some countries they were commonplace from the 1950s to the 1970s, but eliminated  for concern that bombs may be hidden in them. Some airports have also removed them for this reason.