As reported by Bookseller.com, Amazon has launched it’s print on demand (POD) programme in the UK. From Amazon’s press release:

Using proprietary POD technology, Amazon can rapidly print and ship a single book in response to a customer’s order. Titles in the programme will effectively always be in-stock, allowing customers to benefit from Amazon’s shipping offers such as Prime (Amazon’s membership programme offering unlimited one-day delivery) and Free Super Saver Delivery, and publishers and authors to benefit from increased sales.

Amazon POD also provides a cost-effective way for publishers to offer titles for sale that might otherwise not be available to customers – out-of-print works, niche titles, custom books, foreign language editions and alternative formats such as large print. POD further benefits publishers by eliminating the risk of large print runs and the cost of maintaining inventory.

Leading publishers in the UK and around the world are working with Amazon.co.uk to offer their titles via its POD service, including Faber and Faber, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., HarperCollins UK, Cambridge University Press and Allen and Unwin Australia.

"Working with publishers, we hope to bring hundreds of thousands of books to Amazon.co.uk’s customers that might never have otherwise been available,” said Christopher North, Vice President of Media at Amazon.co.uk. “POD not only enables publishers to keep more titles in-stock at Amazon, but it also makes possible innovative new approaches to publishing.”

So you will now be able to get out of print books delivered to your door – at one time you could only get them from your library or by speculatively browsing around your local second-hand book store.  The world is a changing….