Madrid to Lend Books in Its Subway
-- Library Journal, 10/1/2004
Some three million people use Madrid’s metro each day, and next April—coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the first edition of El Quijote—commuters will be able to borrow books free of charge. The Biblio Metro will have 30,000 books to lend. The project, according to the city mayor’s office, is unique in Europe. Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon called it an effort “to increase the huge potential of this public transport by diffusing culture.” The service will operate between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Borrowers will be able to take out books for 15 days; the books can be returned in strategically-placed outside boxes.
