Borrowing books on the bus? It’s taking place in Boston.

Native

No library card wanted.

A decal for “Browse, Borrow, Board” at a MBTA cease. Courtesy Picture / Metropolis of Boston

In the event you’re on the lookout for one thing to do apart from doomscrolling social media whilst you anticipate the bus in Boston, the town has an alternative choice for you — borrow a library e-book to your travels.

Mayor Michelle Wu introduced a brand new pilot program on Thursday that may enable commuters at 20 MBTA bus stops throughout the town to entry free digital content material from the Boston Public Library. All riders must do is scan a QR code, which can be in place on decals on the stops by means of the top of August, to browse the library’s assortment of audiobooks, ebooks, e-newspapers, and e-magazines and borrow the fabric of their alternative. 

This system “Browse, Borrow, Board” doesn’t require a library card or downloading an app. 

Riders will have the ability to take a look at as much as 5 titles at a time for a two-week interval, after which the QR code could be scanned once more to re-register and borrow new supplies. 

In keeping with the town, the first aim of the brand new program is to introduce MBTA riders to the library’s choices and make the assets extra accessible and handy. 

“Our funding in our metropolis’s public transit riders has taken quite a lot of types, from eliminating fares for 3 essential bus routes to increasing the bus lane community,” Wu mentioned in a press release. “This pilot program builds on our efforts to make public transportation extra gratifying, whereas additionally connecting our residents to the assets the Boston Public Library already provides.”

The MBTA-owned busways collaborating in this system embrace eight serving the fare-free routes within the metropolis.

See a map of the place the decals are positioned under: 

Originally posted 2023-05-12 17:36:33.