The mobile library card is a development project with the goal of producing a user-oriented service which - as the name indicates - functions on mobile devices. The service will allow patrons to use the library whenever and wherever they wish. Users may share reading tips and book reviews on social media, comment on material they’ve borrowed, or lend onwards the books they’ve checked out from the library.

The service is being developed at Helsinki City Library together with Labs at Libraries.fi. A demo was tested with a user group and the ideas and suggestions have been put to use, one of them being that yes, reading may be a solitary activity but most readers will still want to share the experience and read what their peers are reading.

When lending a library book to a friend, the liability for the loan is also passed onwards. The application will be able to take into account any outstanding fines the users may have or check the reservation queues for the items. Technically, the service will function like a library self-service checkout machine, on any smart phone, in any library.

The beta version will be out later this year and the end-users will then be able to start lending library books to their friends.