Vending machine giving away free books pops up at the Corn Exchange

A pop-up vending machine offering free books has been installed at Manchester’s Corn Exchange for book lovers to make use of.

We are used to vending machines filled with snacks, drinks and even unappetising sandwiches – for those emergency moments when you’re stuck somewhere for a long time and really need something, anything to eat.

But vending machines have been getting a little more creative recently; we’ve seen them filled with alternatives such as false eyelashes, DVDs and socks.

Now there is a vending machine inside the atrium of the Corn Exchange which offers free books. It’s the perfect setting considering the history of the building and surrounding area, with all the stories buried inside its walls and beneath the pavements.

Corn Exchange

Readers can bring an already used book, exchange it for a token and use it to get another page turner they haven’t yet read — and do the same when they’ve read that one too.

The aim is to help reduce waste for the environment and encourage people into the habit of reading — especially in the age of technology and social media. One of the Corn Exchange hosts will access the machine and choose the next book so readers can be pleasantly surprised by what their next story will be.

The machine is stocked with a great mix of second-hand, ‘pre-loved’ books of all genres so every visit, book swappers will find something different to get stuck in to — which is also great for sustainability.

It’s all free of charge and will only require those who wish to make use of the machine to bring with them a pre-loved book in order to make a swap, so others may enjoy reading a novel that has brought you joy. The read swap repeat system can be used as many times as visitors like.

Alison Hogarth, Marketing Manager at Corn Exchange commented: “We are delighted to have installed our book vending machine at The Corn Exchange and are excited to start a community of book lovers and to see what the people of Manchester are reading.

“All the books in our machine will be second hand so we can do our bit to keep a small amount of pre-loved books in circulation to help the environment, which is something we are really pleased about.”

The vending machine is located at the Fennel Street exit of the Corn Exchange building. For more information about how the Corn Exchange book vending machine works, you can head to their website here.