Some devices are meant to stay on a desk. The keycube, however, has other plans. Just like the famous travelling gnome, a quirky idea beautifully depicted in the French film Amélie, the keycube is setting off on its own journey around the world. Its mission? To pop up in libraries far and wide, posing for photos in these temples of books and ideas.

Why libraries, you ask? Because the keycube is all about text. And what better companions for a text-entry device than shelves upon shelves of stories, poems, and knowledge? Each visit turns into a playful meeting between technology and culture, where the little cube feels right at home among the pages.

The first stop in this adventure: the new Beijing Library in Tongzhou, Beijing. It officially opened its doors in December 2023, and by mid-2024, just six months later, I had the good fortune to visit. The architecture is nothing short of stunning: vast, luminous, and inspiring. Against this backdrop, the keycube looked perfectly at ease, as if it too had come to read, write, and dream.

A photograph of two baby keycubes

And so begins the keycube’s globetrotting tour of libraries. Who knows where it will pop up next? Maybe in your favorite library, so keep an eye out!