Archive for August 17th, 2009:

Brodart's Lending Library

With the advent of e-books for your e-readers and iPhones and other electronic devices, instant gratification has become common and even expected. Well, what about those who want to fan the pages of a physical book? Worry not, for there’s a solution for everyone! What’s an insomniac with a hankering for a meaty book to do? If he’s lucky, he can go down the street and purchase or borrow a book from a book vending machine.

Borrow a book? Yes! Brodart, a company that provides book services to libraries, has developed the Lending Library, a vending machine of library books. It’s perfect if you really, really want to read the latest best-selling mystery only to discover your library branch has closed for the day. Brodart provides libraries not only with the machine itself but also with the books, plus the titles rotate on a monthly basis. Libraries have to purchase a subscription with Brodart and can select from a number of genres, including adult hardcover, young adult hardcover, Spanish-language books, and DVDs and audio books. Once you’re finished with the materials, you just return them to the library!

All over the globe you can find vending machines selling books. Since the summer of 2005 Paris bookseller Maxi-Livres has sold books in its vending machines. The machines were located at several Metro stops in Paris and offered best sellers in a number of genres. When the machines first debuted, the best-selling title was The Wok Cookbook. I wonder if most of those sold around dinnertime.

Novel Idea Vending of Ireland’s “Mini Bookshop” machines can hold 20-24 titles and up to 290 books! The Mini Bookshop can be found in the United Kingdom at the Gatwick Airport. And book vending machines have long existed in Japan, land of the vending machine, though most feature manga (comic books) of an, ahem, adult nature.