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Bookseller Whitcoulls hopes its new ATM for books will banish the time-consuming - and sometimes expensive - search for rare or out-of-print works.
Its Espresso Book Machine, which it unveiled in Melbourne yesterday, can print and bind a paperback book while the customer waits.
Similar in looks to a standard office photocopier, the machine can churn out a requested book, complete with full-colour cover, in between 7 and 14 minutes. The instant book will retail for around $30, the same price as a standard paperback.
David Fenlon, managing director of the A&R Whitcoulls Group, said the machine - named last year by Time as one of the year's best inventions - greatly increases the range of books available to customers in store.
An outlet typically carries around 20,000 titles, but the machine will allow it to provide up to 10,000 additional titles in the next 18 months.
Initially, however, only a few hundred titles will be available for on the spot printing.
"The aim is to make as many out of print books available as possible, to provide access to an enormous range of books that could not physically be carried in a book store, and to provide customised, personalised and unique books to customers," said Mr Fenlon.
While the majority on offer will be out-of-copyright titles, some specialist publishers such as Lonely Planet have agreed to allow the group rights for a limited number of titles.
The machine's production ability, however, limits the range of books solely to paperbacks with black and white pages. The technology has been in use in Europe and the US, but the machine in Melbourne was the first in Australasian retail. Whitcoulls plans to install up to 50 machines in Australia and New Zealand over the next two years. Mr Fenlon said the first New Zealand machine would be installed in Auckland "as soon as we possibly can".
It will hope the instant book plan provides it with a boost in the intensely competitive book retailing market. Specialist booksellers have seen their slice of the retail pie gradually erode over the years, as big box general retailers such as The Warehouse and online sellers such as Amazon muscle in on their domain.
