GoLibrary or Library-a-Go-Go (Swedish: Bokomaten) is a book lending machine used by libraries in Sweden and the U.S. state of California. [1] [2] [3] [4] The Contra Costa Library was the body that first brought these machines to the United States. [5] [6]
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 A young woman holding a book next to a bokomaten machine in Sweden |
The machines were developed by the Swedish company Distec and have been used in Stockholm for several years. [7] They were introduced in California and was first used on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system at its Pittsburg/Bay Point, El Cerrito del Norte, and Millbrae Stations. [1] [2] [3] [4] The Pittsburg and El Cerrito machines are operated by the Contra Costa Public Library System. [1] [2] [3] That library also has a machine at Sandy Cove Shopping Center in Discovery Bay, California, a town without a local library. [1] [2] [3] [8] The machine in Millbrae is operated by the Peninsula Library System. [1] [2] [4]
The Yuba County Library, which has only one outlet and a bookmobile, plans to add a GoLibrary machine as well. [1] There are also initiatives that adopted the GoLibrary framework but using the virtual platform such as the project launched by the national library of Singapore. [9] A similar trend was introduced in Denmark but it involves live books and local experts that can be "checked out" for 30 minutes at a time. [10] The experts can discuss all aspects of a subject matter with individuals or groups.
