Espresso Book Machine - Books on Demand.

Yesterday, I read of a machine that sounds like the perfect book store/library machine. The Espresso Book Machine is like an ATM for books.

According to the Independent British book lovers are going to be in a for a treat very soon:

The self-service machine, which will eventually be installed in 50 stores across the country, offers a choice of around one million titles. The fully-bound books are printed to library quality, including a front cover.

Watch the machine in action.

I gather that the New York Public library has one of these machines. How I wish our Norfolk Public Library had one. I am forever looking for out of print books that I can't find in our library system. I'd happily pay the library the penny a page it takes to print the books if I could have access to one in Norfolk.

I've just been appointed to the board of the Friends of the Norfolk Public Library. I wonder if I need to see if I can whip up some excitement about fund raising for one of these machines. That should be fun, newbie comes on board with her pet project already figured out.