Stingy's Spain Part 1: Bibliometro

For those who didn't know, I live in Madrid. This week, I thought I'd share several really innovative educational programs and websites from Spain.

(I'm not Spanish - I'm from Jersey. Not the island-state between England and France, but the interstate between Exits 4 and 5.)

First on the list: Bibliometro. From years living in New York, I'm happy to leave the subway with my wallet, let alone literature. But the Madrid metro is different. It's clean, cheap, and efficient. Now it also includes these mini-library stands.

Sign-up only takes a few minutes. After the librarians give you a library card, you can select your book using the touch screen (as demonstrated by the lovely Cheli). Each of the seven stations contains 3000 volumes consisting of 500 titles. The selection is very good, too. The librarians also provide you with an accordian fold-up pocket list so you can choose your next book at home.

There is no fine for late books. Instead, you can't check out another book for an amount of time equal to your tardiness ( i.e. two days late to return the book, wait two days to check out another). Go Bibliometro.