In Austria, virtual library contained in public QR code stickers

Projekt Ingeborg has seen 70 stickers placed in public locations such as bus stops, containing QR codes and NFC technology that enable citizens to download e-books.

Spain has already tried to encourage its citizens to regularly pick up a book with its National Reading Plan project which involved adding QR codes that linked to the first chapters of books on its public trains. Now the Austrian city of Klagenfurt has unveiled its own plan with Projekt Ingeborg, which aims to provide residents with a virtual library through QR code stickers placed around the municipality. Launched at the beginning of the month, the project seeks to make literary classics more easily available to citizens of the city, which currently does not have a public library. Some 70 recognizable yellow stickers have been placed in locations around Klagenfurt – mostly at bus stops courtesy of support from STW Mobilitat – and passersby can either hold their smartphones next to them or use a QR code reader to be directed towards one of 70 different titles. So far, all of the available works are books that have fallen out of copyright and each sticker is placed in a location relating to the subject matter of the text. Users can download Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by interacting with a sticker located near the beach, while Arthur Schnitzel’s crime novel The Killer is available near the Federal Police station. A map featuring the locations of all the stickers can be accessed at the Projekt Ingeborg website, while users of the Wikitude app can be directed to the virtual library through an augmented reality interface. The team behind the project hope to add works by young authors, as well as music from up and coming bands in mp3 format by August. The video below explains the concept in more detail: Projekt Ingeborg aims to provide the city with a virtual library, improving literacy, while also encouraging residents to travel around their surroundings. One to replicate in your part of the world? Spotted by: Raymond Kollau