Espresso Book Machine Serves Up On-Demand Reading

at Grand Army Plaza recently unveiled their newly installed Espresso Book Machine, which will offer library patrons instant access to over eight million titles printed in any language, and will allow Brooklyn authors to self-publish their work on site.

Brooklyn residents will have access to millions of titles in any language with the Espresso Book Machine, which converts digital titles to bound and trimmed paperback books. 

“There are over 130 languages spoken in Brooklyn, and nearly 50 percent of Brooklyn residents speak a language other than English at home,” said Linda Johnson, President and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library. “The Espresso Book Machine will allow library-goers to print and enjoy books in any language, and allow Brooklyn’s legions of authors to self-publish and see their finished work produced, hot off the press.”

The Espresso Book Machine also allows Brooklyn writers self-publish their work, and make their titles available for sale on the EBM’s worldwide catalog. Writers will be able to format, design, and upload their book for printing into a physical book and will soon be able to convert the print file to an e-reader format.

The Espresso Book Machine draws books from two sources – in-copyright titles made available by major publishers including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, Hachette, Macmillan, and O’Reilly, and titles that have fallen into the public domain and are made available as scans through the Google Books program.

The machines have been installed in about 80 locations worldwide, including bookstores, libraries, and universities.