Actually, they aren't called Red Boxes (as in the DVD video rental boxes that are currently so popular), they are blue boxes called Library-a-Go-Go. These boxes started in Sweden and are getting their initial introduction to the United States in Contra Costa County, California. Why does this county get first try at the library machines? Apparently, they have the tenth worst commute in the nation and the longest commute west of the Mississippi River. I guess its hard for those people to get to the library (much less anywhere else).
It has taken generous grants to get this program up and running, but there are now three locations for these library vending machines; two of them are at BART stations and one at a shopping center. This makes two of the machines available 24 hours a day.
The Library-a-Go-Go consists of a stand-alone machine with access to 400 paperback books. The machine handles the checkouts and returns all on its own. The customer logs into the system with a library card and uses a touch screen to make their selection. The book is delivered by a robotic arm through a slot along with a receipt. The collection in the boxes is updated every quarter and in order to have more titles, only there are only two or three duplicates of any title.
Though all of this sounds like a little slice of heaven, there have been many software problems resulting in days of downtime and new bugs continue to crop up. Locating the box is also a problem as it has to be protected from the weather, have a power supply, and a dedicated Internet high-speed connection must be established to connect the box to the local library records.
If you want to see more about these machines go to: http://ccclib.org/locations/libraryagogo.html
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