In Romania when you want a book you just scan the wallpaper

by Vodafone Group

Schools across Romania are replacing libraries with digital books on wallpaper that can be scanned and downloaded, thanks to an initiative from Vodafone Romania.

A total of 216,936 students across 300 Romanian high schools are now able to scan and download their school books on to their smartphones, saving space in schools and turning every corridor into a reading opportunity.

The library wallpaper looks like bookshelves filled with rows of books. The spine of each book has a unique QR code. When a student scans the book, it is downloaded to their smartphone.

Watch the video below to find out more about the Vodafone Digital Library:

The ‘Digital Library’ initiative began outside of the classroom as a way of promoting 4G (Romanians used three times less mobile data than the European average).

Vodafone Romania created Digital Public Libraries in shopping malls, shop windows, mainline commuter train stations and subways. Within six months, the Vodafone Digital Public Library had three times more downloads than the biggest e-book retailer in Romania.

Such was the success of the project that Vodafone teamed up with Mobexpert, the biggest furniture retailer in the country, to enable people to design their own Digital Library wallpaper with their favourite books. This proved particularly popular with university students, who could take a library of favourite books with them into cramped student accommodation.

Vodafone’s Digital Library projects came to the attention of Romania’s Minister of Education, enabling it to be extended to 300 schools across the country.

The Digital Library saves space, looks great and means that favourite books will no longer get lent and lost.