UK Edition
Vending machines that sell books – the perfect solution for people too busy to visit a book shop?
Well, here’s a brilliant idea. BooksActually, an independent bookstore in Singapore, has placed a number of book vending machines in public areas with high footfall.
One has been installed at the National Museum of Singapore, one at the Singapore Visitor Centre, and a third is to be put in place at the Goodman Arts Centre, headquarters for the National Arts Council.
Each machine has a maximum capacity of around 150 books, and they’ll carry between 20 and 22 different titles at a time.
The machines cost around £5,000 each, with the cost partly funded by a grant from the Singaporean government’s Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board. They’re decorated with wrap-around artworks by Alvin Mark Tan, Speak Cryptic and Odelia Tang.
BooksActually boss Keny Leck says: "The whole idea is about accessibility and eyeballs.
“There are not enough bookstores in Singapore, so we’ve previously also distributed (our books) to places such as (retail stores) Cat Socrates and Naiise’s pop-up stores. You have a different sort of demographic in these places.
“These vending machines could be a visual touchpoint. You may not buy (a book) but we’ll let you know these exist. And from there, there could be more possibilities.
"We start with visual awareness: Books where you see a local author’s name.”
The machines are cash-only at the moment, but Mr Leck told Channel News Asia he hopes to introduces cashless payment in due course.
“The ultimate place we want to put them are at train stations,” he said. “BooksActually cannot be at Jurong MRT station every day, but it would be perfect if there was a vending machine there.”
Mr Leck says he got the idea from the ‘Penguincubator’, a similar machine rolled out by Penguin Books n London in the 1930s.