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

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides 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 otherwise made. The fi ...

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 and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolita ...

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 on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...

system at its Pittsburg/Bay Point, El Cerrito del Norte, and Millbrae Stations. 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 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. Bookm ...

, 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 a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

. A similar trend was introduced in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...

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