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 ...

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, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

for several years. They were introduced in California and was first used on the Bay Area Rapid Transit 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 Discovery Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in eastern Contra Costa County, California in the United States, about 60 miles (97 km) from San Francisco. It is located outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2020, its population was ...

, 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, 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, borde ...

. 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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

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