Book Stop

Beginning June 6, 2024, patrons of the MESZL Boulevard Library will also be able to borrow books from the street lending machine.

As a result of the collaboration between the District VI Terézváros Municipality, the District VII Erzsébetváros Municipality, and the Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library, a lending machine was inaugurated today at Lövölde Square, connecting the two districts. Using the locker, local residents can borrow and return books and magazines from the MESZL Boulevard Library at any time, day or night, regardless of the library's opening hours.

The bright red cabinet, named Book Stop, is located next to the trolley stop at Lövölde Square and operates much like popular parcel lockers. To use it, you simply need to register at the MESZL Boulevard Library. Once you've selected the desired document from the online catalog, you can request it to be placed in the locker at Lövölde Square. If the book is available, library staff will place it in the locker within 24 hours and notify the reader accordingly. Upon entering the reader's card barcode and corresponding password, one of the locker doors will automatically open, allowing access to the documents. The borrowing transaction occurs at this moment, assigning the document to the reader's name and initiating the usual borrowing cycle. If the reader does not collect the requested documents, no borrowing transaction will occur. The library will send an email notification once the loan is complete. Returning books is equally straightforward, available 24/7 using the locker.

The lending machine's high-gloss, highly visible screen displays program recommendations from the MESZL branch libraries while in standby mode.

Detailed assistance for using the lending machine can be found on the Boulevard Library's website.

Ágnes Kovácsné Koreny, the Director General of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, stated at today's press event that similar lending machines are already in operation at the Boulevard and Soroksár branches of MESZL. However, this is the first one to be placed in a busy outdoor location, far from a branch library. In cooperation with the Metropolitan Municipality and the district municipalities, MESZL plans to install additional lockers in 2024 and the following years. These will be located both near district branch libraries and in busy areas and transportation hubs where Budapest residents handle their daily affairs. The goal is to bring books, reading, and library services as close to the residents of the capital as possible.

The Book Stop, manufactured and implemented by Smartfreq Kft., was first used by the mayors and deputy mayors of Terézváros and Erzsébetváros.

Photos of the inauguration ceremony (gallery)
Fotók: Berecz Valter/Képszerkesztőség