The Espresso Book Machine® and Brooklyn Public Library Partner to Launch Creative Writing Program for Brooklyn Public Schools

Brooklyn, NY, May 23, 2012—Brooklyn Public Library and On Demand Books, the owner of the patented Espresso Book Machine®, will launch a pilot program for Here Is Brooklyn at Central Library’s Dweck Center on May 30 at 9:30AM. Here Is Brooklyn is a creative writing program for Brooklyn schoolchildren. These students, from Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade, will read aloud from their stories, poems and short non-fiction pieces about growing up in Brooklyn. Their writings will then be printed and bound by the Espresso Book Machine, and will be available for purchase through Brooklyn Public Library and on the Espresso Book Machine network, beginning May 30. One book from each class will be donated to its school’s library, and other copies will be placed on Brooklyn Public Library’s shelves for public use.

“The Here Is Brooklyn program offers children a wonderful opportunity to build theircommunication skills and actually publish their own work,” said Linda E. Johnson, President & CEO of Brooklyn Public Library. “We are thrilled to support the students’ creative endeavors and to help themshare their stories with our patrons.”

Brooklyn Public Library and On Demand Books believe that giving schoolchildren the opportunity to write for publication about their local communities will encourage them to write further about their lives and neighborhoods. “The program will create a tangible record of the experiences of young Brooklynites,” says Dane Neller, CEO of On Demand Books, “and will encourage young writers to visit Brooklyn Public Library, where they can see the Espresso Book Machine in operation.”

With the push of a button, the Espresso Book Machine prints and automatically binds a paperback book with a full-color cover and trims it to any standard size, in a matter of minutes. The printed and bound copy then emerges from the Espresso Book Machine as a bookstore-quality paperback. The EBM technology offers libraries and bookstores the opportunity to become community self-publishing centers, providing a new distribution platform for self-published writers like the participants in the Here Is Brooklyn program. In addition, the Espresso Book Machine improves environmental sustainability and overall efficiency by eliminating shipping and the pulping of unwanted books.