The University has purchased a machine that can copy and bind a replica of a book in slightly more time than it takes to brew a pot of morning coffee.

The Espresso Book Machine, made by New York City-based On Demand Books, can copy an entire volume in less than 10 minutes for less than $10, allowing libraries to make duplicates of out-of-copyright books for a fraction of the cost of an original. It was named one of Time Magazine's "Best Inventions of 2007" and has been compared to an ATM for books.

The University is the only American college that owns one of the machines. Only nine have been sold worldwide.

Paul Courant, the University's dean of libraries, said the library purchased the machine with several "generous donations." He declined to elaborate on the cost of the machine or the source of the funding.

Courant said the library hopes to have the machine up and running by Oct. 1. It will be used mainly to print out-of-copyright books for the Google digitization project, an effort to put all seven million volumes in the University's libraries online.

“The University of Michigan was an especially attractive showcase because they recognize that the University of Michigan is among the nation’s leaders in planning for the future of books and reading," said Tim Metz, a spokesman for On Demand Books. “They see the University’s participation in the massive Google book digitalization program as strong evidence of that.”

The machine, introduced last year, still has some kinks. Currently, users must print books in person at the machine, meaning the technology isn't immediately available to any library. Courant said that feature will be added in the near future.

Metz said On Demand Books hopes to eventually make EBMs more mainstream in libraries and bookstores.

“Public, university and other libraries all present attractive opportunities for EBMs — and as the knowledge, appeal and production of this revolutionary new continue to grow, they will doubtless be placed in more of each type of library,” Metz said.