If I understand this press release correctly, the NYPL will give away free books for the asking. They’ve installed an Espresso print-on-demand machine. All you have to do is ask and they’ll print you up (“within minutes”) a copy from a selection of public domain titles. I assume the selection will expand as time goes on.
Will this get book folks into libraries?
Robert
According to Endgadget, it costs $50,000 up-front and then 5 cents per page. Obviously, you’d have to mark that up to pay back the initial investment. What’s hopeful about all that is that if someone’s done the math beforehand, that means they predict enough demand for book versions of public-domain works to make this a profitable venture. Which means some people really do still read the classics. We’ll see…