This Library Lets You Print Your Own Books
While most people go to libraries to check out books, one Toronto library is offering visitors an opportunity to print out their own.
While most people go to libraries to check out books, one Toronto library is offering visitors an opportunity to print out their own. The Toronto Reference Library is the flagship branch of Canada’s largest public library system and yesterday they unveiled the Asquith Press at its Digital Innovation Hub.
The new machine, which cost the library Cdn$68,000 (~$62,400) allows patrons to print 10 paperback copies of a 150-page book (matte or glossy full-color cover with black and white pages with illustrations inside) for Cdn$145 (~$133).
Librarians hope visitors will use the machine to print their own cookbooks, memoirs, or to self-publish novels, but they also have the option to print books from the library’s extensive digital archive or database of more than three million book titles.
The library is also maintaining a Pinterest board with many of the titles they have already printed, and judging these books by their cover the range is rather diverse.
The Toronto library isn’t the only library offering this service. Last year, the DC Public Library introduced On Demand Books for a similar cost, while libraries in Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, and elsewhere also offer similar services.
