World’s first international Free Reading Zone cafe opens in Zagreb

Zagreb is now home to the world’s first Free Reading Zone cafe (FREZ) — a cafe where customers can access a virtual library of over 100,000 books!

Cafe Velvet, which is set on hip Dezmanova Street, boasts an online library of a wide range of genres, in languages including Croatian, English, Spanish, German, Italian and French. All keen readers have to do is download the FREZ reading app and get the access code from the cafe staff.

The Free Reading Zones project originates in America, and has seen a number of public spaces — such as trains, hospitals and airports — made into areas for free reading. Cafe Velvet is reportedly the first cafe to offer this service, however. The virtual reading library is made possible by ebook service Total Boox, which makes ebooks instantly available.

Source: Croatia Week