In the January/February edition of Public Libraries Tales from the Front section, the Camden County (N.J.) Library System reports about the success is has had with it’s Book Club in a Bag.  The book club bags include multiple copies of the same popular title along with discussion questions, and can be checked out by library patrons for up to eight weeks.

This is a great and inexpensive service that would be wonderful for outreach services librarians to market to their community members who have shown interest in starting book clubs, as well as to established book clubs.  In addition to the discussion questions, perhaps the book club bags could include guidelines for starting a book club and web resources relevant to the books.  ReadingGroupGuides.com has a lot of great information for book clubbers including book discussion guides for many popular titles.

You’ve probably all seen the Red Box DVD vending machines at your local grocery store.  Well, some libraries have adapted this concept to create library vending machines.  Each machine is stocked with the most popular books and DVDs for patrons to choose from, and the selections are frequently updated.  These machines are placed outside popular stores or community centers to give the public quick and easy access to library materials.  A patron inserts their library card into into the machine, chooses an item, and the item drops down for them to retrieve, just like a regular vending machine.  Items “checked out” at the vending machines can be returned to drop boxes located next to the machines or to the library.

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