In China they have installed smart booths where you can borrow books and return them right there

Phone booths may be disappearing from the world, but a new breed is appearing on public streets, at least in China. We are talking about intelligent booths that do not have telephones inside or are used to call, but rather contain physical books.

Although e-books are becoming more and more popular, many people continue to partner with public libraries to borrow books. This task usually requires physically going to the place, choosing the book and, after being attended by someone, taking it home.

In East China’s Liandu County, public library officials have devised a system for residents to quickly borrow books. It is a series of booths with books called “Love Bookstore” scattered around the city.

Mini book cabinet in Lishui street. It is connected to the library, where you can borrow books in library and return them at here.??? pic.twitter.com/TBpNhAAXnT

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According to an official pagethese cabins are present in bus stops, public bike collection points and other places. And they hope to expand the system to other locations like parks, train stations and other public places over time.

How does the system work

Residents have access to an app that allows them to check which books are available in each booth. If they want to borrow one, they simply have to go to the place and scan a QR code with the integrated system from your smartphone or with WeChat.

The phone shows the conditions of the free loan. If the user accepts, the cabinet door opens and the item can be removed. Similarly, when you want to return it, you simply go back to the place, repeat the process and put the book inside the machine.

The machines, as they explain, work with books that have been donated. Using the same procedure as checking out or returning books, residents can donate a book. When they do, they receive a coupon that can be used to get discounts at some brick-and-mortar stores or buy second-hand books.

Sometimes there may be more books donated than can fit inside the machines. In this sense, they tell from the public library, they will donate part of them to rural schools “so that people share the joy of reading.”

It should be noted that these are cabins Third Generation “Love Bookstore”. This initiative has been around for several years, but previously it did not have this technology, but rather small boxes of a smaller size that were not connected to the Internet and did not allow the available books to be consulted or to keep a record of the loans.

Pictures | Lishui People’s Government