A public library in Ontario has taken its cues from Japan’s vending machines to make borrowing books more accessible.
The Barrie Public Libary in Ontario, Canada, cut the ribbon on some brand new BPL on the GO Library Kiosks over the weekend. The new kiosks can be found at East Bayfield Community Centre and Allandale Recreation Centre, via their new vending machines, and all you need is your library card. Restocked weekly, it’s expected to become a one-stop shop for borrowing books.
An initiative of the Barrie Public Library, the vending machines are stocked weekly with popular adult, teen, and children’s books. In the simple process of scanning your library card, you can select the book you’d like to borrow, open the door, and borrow, or replace a previously borrowed book.
When the door closes, the RFID scanner checks to see what has been added or removed. It will then check the items in or out and display a summary on the screen. Books borrowed from any library location can be returned through the kiosks.
“At the library, we’re constantly working to bring convenient and accessible library services to more areas of the city,” said Lauren Jessop, CEO of the Barrie Public Library. “This is one more step forward for our growing system, and we are so thrilled to be able open the kiosks to the public.”
We’re thrilled to launch our BPL on the GO kiosks at the East Bayfield & Allandale Rec Centres! Like vending machines for books, we restock them weekly with popular titles 😀 Borrow & return books on the go! https://t.co/tRwRgjLpEq @cityofbarrie @tourismbarrie #Barrie pic.twitter.com/bB1PfIybT8
— Barrie Public Library (@BPL_inthecity) June 13, 2022
Here’s hoping the vending machines take off, and we see something just like it in Australia soon.
