GoLibrary or Library-a-Go-Go (Swedish: ''Bokomaten'') is a book lending

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

used by libraries in Sweden and the U.S. state of California.In California, a New ATM for Books Debuts
Lynn Blumenstein. ''Library Journal''. 26-02-2008. Retrieved 07-05-2011.
. Susan Kantor-Horning. ''Library Journal''. 15-08-2009. Retrieved 07-05-2011.Library-a-Go-Go comes to El Cerrito del Norte BART Station
Press release. BART. 15-06-2009. Retrieved 2011-08-15.Library book lending machine opens at Millbrae BART Station
Press release. BART. 05-05-2011. Retrieved 07-05-2011. The Contra Costa Library was the body that first brought these machines to the United States.

History

The machines were developed by the Swedish company Distec and have been used in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

for several years. They were introduced in California and was first used on the

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

system at its Pittsburg/Bay Point, El Cerrito del Norte, and

Millbrae Station Millbrae station is an intermodal transit station serving Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain, located in Millbrae, California. The station is the terminal station for BART on the San Francisco Peninsula, served by two lines: The before ...

s. The Pittsburg and El Cerrito machines are operated by the Contra Costa Public Library System. That library also has a machine at Sandy Cove Shopping Center in Discovery Bay, California, a town without a local library. The machine in Millbrae is operated by the

Peninsula Library System The Peninsula Library System (PLS) is a consortium of public and community college libraries in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, which serves the part of the San Francisco Bay Area known as "San Francisco ...

. The Yuba County Library, which has only one outlet and a

bookmobile A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Boo ...

, plans to add a GoLibrary machine as well. There are also initiatives that adopted the GoLibrary framework but using the virtual platform such as the project launched by the national library of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. A similar trend was introduced in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

but it involves live books and local experts that can be "checked out" for 30 minutes at a time. The experts can discuss all aspects of a subject matter with individuals or groups.

References

{{Portal, California, Sweden, Technology

External links

GoLibrary website
Vending machines Library automation