American college students will be able to borrow more than textbooks at select universities this semester: the Chromebook Lending Library is a-coming!
Twelve universities, including Texas State, UCLA and Auburn University, are playing host to the travelling kiosk, with more colleges due to take part in the lending library programme in the future.
Students will be able to borrow an Acer C720 Chromebook for the duration of the library’s stay on campus (a max of 3 days judging by the schedule posted online).
Students who damage or fail to return their device at the end of the “Evaluation Period” may be charged up to $220. Pro tip: keep it away from the beer pong table.
The Google Education blog, which announced the Lending Library at the weekend, says“students can [borrow] a Chromebook during the week for life on campus— whether it’s in class, during an all-nighter, or browsing the internet in their dorm.”
Since sales of Chromebooks to education are so healthy it makes sense for Google to focus on expanding and promoting their usefulness in their area.
The “sign in and go” functionality of Chrome OS makes it ideally suited to transient situations. Students will be able to log in with their Google account and all of their apps, bookmarks, files and more will be there waiting. A quick power wash later and the device be ready for the next student.
You can see when and where the Kiosk will be landing on the Chromebook College site.