Gdansk, a small seaside town of around 400,000, is the 4th largest city in Poland, . In January, the transit system implemented the Mobile Reading campaign on the cities trams. Over 5,000 novels were placed in nets on the backs of tram seats. Unfortunately, within a few weeks every single one was pilfered and never returned. Not to be deterred, the city has adopted a new digital reading initiative that has users scan book covers QR codes and get free ebooks on their mobile phones and tablets.
People will be able to read the 100 ebooks that the city is launching with their new digital program. “This time, there will be enough for all readers, regardless of how many people want to carry on reading at home having fallen under the spell of a book,” said Michal Piotrowski from Gdansk town hall, as cited by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
It’s great to see more cities get involved in digital reading and adopting the practice on mass transit. Considering the costs of displaying virtual shelves, laminated advertisements with QR codes is quite cheap. City riders are already raving about the new service.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
