The first Espresso book vending machine installed

A novel idea

25 June 2007 9:59 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The first Espresso Book Machine has been installed at the New York public library.

Described as an ATM for books, this machine prints and binds a title on the spot within minutes from a digital file.

The folk behind the patented automatic book making machine claim that this will revolutionise today's publishing industry.

As the machine prints and delivers physical books from digital files, this means there are no storage issues, or large print-run costs, and so no titles ever need go out of print again.

Library users in New York will be able to print free copies of such public domain classics as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain, "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville, "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens and "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake.

The books are bound and trimmed and come out of the machine as "a single, library-quality, paperback book" that the inventors boast is indistinguishable from the factory-made title.

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