Toronto Public Library Hopes to Put Book-Lending Vending Machine at City’s Union Station
From The Star:
The Toronto Public Library hopes to roll out a book-lending machine at Union Station by the end of the year. If it’s successful, more could be on their way.
The move is a novel idea aimed at making the library more accessible to Torontonians and broadening the number of users, which sits around 18.5 million annually.
“You aren’t expecting a library presence in Union Station, so it will be a convenient way for commuters to access library content,” said Ana-Maria Critchley, the library’s manager of stakeholder relations.
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Several cities have strategically placed kiosks at transit hubs so readers can borrow books for the short period of time they spend waiting for a subway or bus.
The article includes examples of similar projects elsewhere in Canada and California.
Read the Complete Article
Books and More: A Few More Library Vending Machine (aka “Kiosk”) Examples
See Also: Info and Video From a Maker of Library Vending Machines, EnvisionWare
Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.