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preservation and persistence of the changing book

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Book Kit Vending

The Book Drop vending machine is now averaging $110 per day (for the last 14 days). That even with empty slots and a number of items out of stock. Customers are extremely varied from upper adminstration to raggy undergraduates...but all have been really enthusiastic. "It's such a thrill to get books in a vending machine!" "It's so post-digital!"

As the library responds to new socializations of its environment in the context of a composite, on-line reading mode the injunctions of a previously exclusive print reading mode may dissolve. Different kinds of silence and different kinds of refreshment are likely.

This is where the book vending machine fits in. Its a point and click transaction, but a reading automat instead of automatic reading. The book vending machine intrudes the print reading mode back into the social setting of a composite, on-line mode.

Reading mode transaction is what libraries do. Libraries mediate from the scrolling of late antiquity or microfilm to the vertical scrolling of the Web to the paginated scrolling of PDF and back to the free leaf of a paper book. Libraries mediate each of the parent modes; verbal, written and printed, both to each other and to the swirls of their combinations on-line. With all that mediation its easy to accommodate lemon diet Pepsi.

It should also be possible to promote a bit of print mode preservation and print mode diversity using book vending machines in library coffee shops. At a library coffee shop book vending machine a student can dispense new acquisitions, or buy book craft kits, or sample Iowa authors, or get the latest concertina format short story series as vended in the London Tube.

What’s wrong with this picture? Will the University of Iowa Libraries buy its first SnackShop 111/112 vending machine? FotB/Morbo demands an answer! (press release link to follow) (...er, no. [01.29.02] UI Libraries decided that it was too risky to purchase, even though the machine brought in more than its $1,600 purchase price. So it remains for some other agency to sponsor the next wave of interest in the print reading mode. "Kids love vending machines!" was one comment after the meeting. Strangely, the new Library Coffee shop opened just yesterday. Too bad the connection was not apparent; perhaps its risky to open a library coffee shop without a book vending machine.)

Reading vending machine arrays

Observe yourself transacting a vending machine purchase. You will see that you read the whole array...particularly if there are unfamiliar products. Next you need to appraise your level of desire. There is also the judgement on value which can be complicated by a lack of information or sample taste. Then there is the decision and the excitement of whirl and drop of the vend. With the item in hand, attention can turn away from the machine....but its location in its context is remembered.

Does any of this suggest the library experience?

Another factor is how well suited the modern vending machine is as a book exhibition device. Although it uses only a small amount of space it provides an attractive, well lit display or grotto of books. It is difficult to simply walk past this kind of exhibit case. While the stock trays are very adaptable, the basic book slot is 6" x 9 " with four slots across a tray. Using just the top three or four trays there is still plenty of frontal area for graphics and other library decoration. The keypad, and cash transaction options are also very extensive with nifty LED scrolling. We have used the scroll message; "Have a nice book!".

book kit concept

Beyond print books, there are various book products including multiples of book art, manuscript works and book craft kits. At the University of Iowa we currently produce four kinds of book craft kits. The classical uncovered Ethiopian book kit is produced in three sizes, a case bound Journal is produced in two sizes, and there is also an edition type book kit using sewn board structure and a double fan, transfer tape binding using colored Tyvek covering. Each of these kits produces an attractive hand made book ready for use by its maker. You can see samples at the Iowa Book Works and at the UI Center for the Book.

The kit concept, providing all the various materials in precut dimensions immediately eliminates the beginner’s struggle to assemble and prepare the materials. This means that the kit purchaser can immediately consider the steps of assembly and the overall structure of the hand made book.

A particular challenge for the kit producer is the composition of clear instructions. All terms used must be defined, preferably with a diagrammatic illustration. Occasionally extra details of component preparation are needed to eliminate risk of mis-assembly. Parts need to be stamped to indicate top and inside. Innovations outside book production convention, such as use of contact and iron-on adhesive or prepared text gatherings with the head colored and fold bolt at the tail, can also diminish risk and error. It is also helpful to provide an exterior labeling of estimated assembly time and any comments on adult assistance for assembly by children.

Another important consideration peculiar to kit design is the packaged appearance of the various components. Colored filler card and colored instruction sheets are attractive. Smaller components such as carefully coiled thread, endbands or label should be attractively positioned on the exterior of larger components. Arrays of decorated board papers, covering cloth and text gatherings should also be carefully positioned for visual effect. Finally, logo and product name labels should be attractive and well positioned.

book kit marketing

Book craft kits are easy to sell. They appeal to individuals without any previous bookbinding experience and they appeal to experienced book workers as well. Book craft kits converge with the large and successful on-line sales genre of printed books. An on-line sales site is easily located with search terms such as “bookbinding + kit” or “book craft”. Portals and blog sites of the library and book art communities will also provide links. Special communities such as the immense home schooling community also have resource portals with curricular pages such as hand crafts.

Beyond sales to individual, there is also a market in support of book art course work involving bulk orders for entire classes. These orders should be supplemented by an Instructor’s packet providing set up and instructional assistance and appropriate narratives of related book history or book craft. Advanced instructors may also place orders for custom kits to produce equivalents of their own inventive and artistic book forms. Finally, kits can be produced as acessories to published book craft and book art texts. The many innovative designs published by accomplished book artists, from Philip Smith to Keith Smith, await the production of their book kit accessories.

positioning a book craft kit industry

There is the possibility of mechanized book kit production for mass market retailing. Such retailing is provided by chain art supply and fabric stores and specialty chains such as Hobby Lobby. In this market book craft kit products related to scrapbooks and Asian style binding are already apparent. A very complete production base for kit production would be required, though this already exists in paper converter and custom publishing companies.

Another relevant industry is emerging with print on demand (PoD) technologies Print-on-demand utilizes all the attributes of digital production, distribution and retailing without crossing the threshold to on-line reading. Projecting print production via PoD technologies opens wider opportunities for the future of the paper book and other book products.

One option is to decouple the stand-alone book-on-demand machine back into its more traditional components. Specifically, the suggestion is to separate the retail interface using conventional snack vending machines and maintain a distribution threshold between this retail mechanism and that of the print-on-demand technologies and publishing infrastructure. As Jason Epstein says; “The marketplace for digital book printed on demand requires that thousands of machines be maintained at remote locations.” (“Reading: The Digital Future”, New York Review of Books, July 2001)

Some advantages of this seeming reversion to the independent vending machine are its amazing adaptability to any variety of book and book-like products and its great adaptability to all kinds of retail environments. It also offers pricing flexibility based on the proven bill and coin negotiating equipment. And, the vending machine has a very flexible array or assortment of display views and machine panel graphics.

The vending machine inserts books and book products into contexts of community life. The situations of transactions are part of the charm of machine book vending; books in bars, books in hair salons, books in coffee shops, books in bus stations. Vending machines and their refined technologies provide the instant gratification of an exchange for money, a bit of gravity and the possession of different narrates, concepts and book craft projects.

References

Things sold in vending machines ( list and description)

Book Drop press release

Book Kit concepts

The vending machine used at the University of Iowa Library is a SnackShop 111-112, from Automatic products. The machine has been provided to the library courtesy of ARAMARK Inc.