A robotic manipulator for picking and placing data storage cassettes (60) in an automated storage library. The manipulator has a pair of fingers (10, 20), one finger being longer than the other. An eject bar (30) is located between the fingers and has a tab (40) for pushing a storage cassette into the seated operative position in an IBM 3480 type tape reader. The manipulator approaches the slot in the reader, supporting the data cassette on the long finger and holding it in place with the short finger. The short finger pivots to free the cassette and the eject bar pushes it into the reader. When the eject bar is clear of the long finger it pivots downwards so that the tab engages the top of the cassette and pushes it into the seated position in the reader.