Drexel University and the Free Library of Philadelphia are introducing what might be one of the first vending machines that lends out iPads to both students and local residents. The self-serve kiosk is located at the university and holds a dozen iPads that students and locals can checkout using their Free Library of Philadelphia card or Drexel student ID:
Residents of Philadelphia’s Mantua and Powelton Village neighborhoods bordering Drexel’s campus will be able to use their Free Library of Philadelphia card to sign out an iPad and use it for a maximum of four hours. With a swipe of their Drexel ID, students will also be able to check out an iPad.
The iPads come with a selection of preinstalled apps that, according to the university, “explore art, digital storytelling, early literacy, games, geography, music, news, photo editing, science, astronomy and video editing.” And for security, the iPads will automatically wipe any user data when returned to the kiosk.
The new experiment at Drexel follows a project back in 2013 when the school offered 24-hour MacBook rentals through a similar vending machine setup.
“Based on the success of the laptop lending kiosk in our library, self-service technology has proven to serve as an easy, attractive option for access to items we know our library users want,” said Danuta A. Nitecki, PhD, dean of Drexel Libraries.
The university said it will also look for other opportunities to bring more of these kiosks into learning spaces around its campus and local community.
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What a fantastic service. The relative simplicity of a sandboxed mobile OS on a larger format platform was ridiculed as being a giant iPod, and yet it makes stuff like this possible. Imagine the overhead of using a full blown OS in this scenario.
Love it. iPads have done so much to improve people’s access. Cheap chromebooks aren’t quite as flexible in terms of innovative delivery, but they have lots of potential to be leveraged as well.
I really do love this idea! The only problem I could see is a losing a wallet and now having to worry about someone using your ID to check out an iPad and walking off
True,. But one up-side to that happening is now all of a sudden that person is carrying a device that can partially track their location and help you get your wallet back
Yes, I wonder if they have taken any steps to account for this possibility. I wonder if the iPhone type “find my phone” technology could be part of a solution? I’m not sure whether it is available on the iPad or not.
Individuals also need to know their pin number or password associated with Drexel University or the Free Library -so the card is only one step of the checkout process.
Have just read so can’t say that this is a carefully considered response but, on first thoughts, it seems to me to be a great initiative – yet another example of how libraries remain relative and continue to be innovative and creative in their approach to serving client needs and staying abreast of changing technologies, study and communication methods.
Congratulations to all those involved in thinking of and implementing this. In a world where profit before people is a mantra, it is also great to see technology designed for profit, i.e. vending machines, being adapted for use in a service orientated not-for-profit environment.
My apologies, I meant “relevant” not “relative” as I wrote in my post.
What’s ensuring that tablets get returned? Is there a credit card on file? Simply knowing who checked out the missed tablet doesn’t guarantee reimbursement.
Well they could just make it so if you don’t turn it in or pay for it, then you don’t graduate. That would make me turn it back in. You could also make a rule where if you don’t turn it in by the end of the semester then you don’t get your transcript for that semester.
These could be crappy first gen iPad’s. Target was collecting these for $200 no questions asked 2 years ago. Now there worth only $100 to $120 if you’re lucky. Not worth the theft charge the library would use against you. The iPad 2 is not that far behind in worth.
God bless America