LOOK: National Book Store's 24/7 Book Vending Machine Is Now Open

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(SPOT.ph) Bookworms, a new, exciting way to buy your next read in the metro is here—via a cool vending machine, no less, courtesy of National Book Store. Introducing The Book Drop, the country's first-ever vending machine that dispenses not snacks or drinks (heck, not even flowers), but actual books. You can find it smack dab in the middle of the brand's very own NBS Park in Mandaluyong.

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For the uninitiated, NBS Park is a pocket of space where you can sit, read, and unwind at a series of concept spots amid the metro's hustle and bustle. Opened just last year, it's a warehouse-turned-community hub along Pioneer Street in Mandaluyong that is full of coffee nooks, an indoor golf spot, galleries, and food joints (like neighborhood gem Pluck with their rotisserie chicken and Engkanto Taps). One more reason (there will be more retailers and restos soon) why you, especially the bookworms, should drop by is The Book Drop.

The Book Drop is basically a vending machine for books. It's essentially a little bookstore that is accessible 24/7—the selection might be a bit limited, but at least it'll be there when the urge to start a new book at 3 a.m. hits (which can be the case for people living in the area, as well as those with graveyard shifts). The NBS Park is open, with a common space equipped with long tables and chairs where you can enjoy reading a book in peace.

Inside the vending machine are 25 books in total arranged to show five titles in five rows. The titles that can be found inside are sorted by theme, which they aim to refresh every one to two months depending on the time of year, starting with cozy fiction. At the moment, we spotted Michiko Aoyama's What You Are Looking For Is in the Library as well as Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before Your Memory Fades: A Novel, Jinwoo Chong's I Leave It Up To You, among other books.

Those who want to purchase books from the vending machine will have to pay via QR code through the selection screen on the side of the machine. You can also check the stock on the checkout page.

It's like ordering through a kiosk inside a fast-food joint. Tap the screen to reveal the selection of available books. Once you've chosen the title you want to read, click it, and the QR code will automatically show up on the screen. Scan the code to pay.

You might be worried about how exactly it will dispense the book; the usual snack vending machines just casually drop the stuff, after all. It's a totally valid concern, since the books can get dents or creases if not handled properly, and we don't want that before we can even tear the plastic apart. For this vending machine, there's a tray that will lift from the bottom of the machine and into the row where your book is. The books will safely slide into the tray and then come back down.

If you already have a title you've been wanting to get a physical copy of, then go right ahead and buy it from the machine. But if you want to read the book first, at least skim a few pages or check out the synopsis before buying. Right beside the vending machine is a bookshelf that contains copies that are free to read. Think of it as a preview of what the books inside the vending machine have to offer, plus more titles for all to enjoy.

National Book Store's The Book Drop is inside NBS Park, located at NBS Park Pioneer, 125 Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong. For more of National Book Store's offerings, check out their website as well as their official Shopee and Lazada pages. National Book Store has branches nationwide.

For more information and updates, check out National Book Store's Facebook and Instagram pages. NBS Park also has Facebook and Instagram.

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