Providing a solution to students who don’t want to carry a laptop while walking late at night from their dorm or off-campus housing to the library, Drexel introduced a 24-hour, self-service kiosk located in its Hagerty Library that will dispense MacBooks to students, faculty and staff. Drexel is the third university on the East Coast to introduce the vending machine, which holds up to 12 MacBooks that could be checked out free by anyone with a Drexel ID for five hours of use.

Drexel will evaluate the use of the kiosk and results will determine if additional vending machines can be added in the libraries or around campus. Administrators are also considering iPads for future kiosks. This is the latest in a series of innovative initiatives by Drexel Libraries. You can read more about the evolution of Drexel’s Libraries in one of my previous posts. Stay updated on the latest by following the Libraries blog at: http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/newsevents/

Update on Feb. 12, 2014: After a successful year of lending MacBooks, Drexel has added an additional 18 laptops to the vending machine bringing the total number of available laptops to 30.