Sip 'n Read: University Library System's Espresso Book Machine Prints Books on Demand

From left, University Library System (ULS) Director Rush Miller, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, and Dick Thornburg inspect Thornburgh's book, Where the Evidence Leads, which was printed in about seven minutes from a digital file.

A group of Pitt dignitaries, faculty, and librarians and other staff members gathered at Hillman Library Sept. 27 for a demonstration of Pitt’s new Espresso Book Machine (EBM), which can print, glue, and bind a paperback book in a matter of minutes.
The first book “hot off the press” was an updated version of Where the Evidence Leads (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003) by former Pennsylvania Governor, former U.S. Attorney General, and Pitt alumnus and trustee Dick Thornburgh (LAW ’57).
The massive EBM database, called EspressNet, includes nearly a million book titles, including textbooks, thousands of titles in the ULS D-Scribe online collections, and most University of Pittsburgh Press titles. The machine soon will be housed in the University Book Center, and its ability to print books on demand is expected to reduce the cost of select student textbooks. Pitt is one of only 30 universities worldwide to have an EBM.