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A fiction version of these robots was described in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Penumbra%27s_24-Hour_Bookst...), I suggest you check it out if you haven't already done so, nice, entertaining read.
I've used Santa Clara University Library robots, (listed in this article), but I don't think these are a good idea at all.

You go to the library computer, look up the book you want, and press 'retrieve', and go to the desk. A minute or so later, the book shows up.

When I go to any other library, I browse the books on the shelves, maybe 20 or 30. I can quickly shuffle through them, maybe looking at just their spines to see what I want.

These robots just kill browsing completely. I think they are fine for some purposes - archives, but not for university general libraries where browsing should be encouraged.

Wouldn't there cranes make a vertical data-center (which, I suppose, would be very efficient, as the height of the warm air column would drive exhaustion) easier to build?