This paper presents an innovative design approach in grippers for library books handling applications, within the library automation context. As libraries provide a huge content of printed materials, the automation of books handling becomes a must. In the same point of view, a large amount of routine and repetitive activities will be reduced in the workplace of shelves and in service point. The paper is focused on innovative approach in designing a dedicated gripper for books handling in a library. It is presented the gripper CAD model and the gripper experimental prototype, developed in the Institute for Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology, Dresden, Germany, using light-weight thermoplastic reinforced material for the mobile finger. A field test was conducted in the laboratory during the scenes of the books manipulation process.