Book On A Bench

We've seen a boom in the availability of tiny libraries across the world. These small structures can be found in parks, outside people's homes and in other public spaces. Often they have clear doors on the front and are stuffed with books to take. The idea is great and it's also a wonderful way to leave some books you wish to pass onto other readers. A new idea called BookCrossing aims to add to this by becoming a way to share and track your passed-on books.

The idea was brought to my attention a while back on Twitter when I saw some posts about books that were intentionally left on park benches and tables in public areas. But they weren't lost, they were labeled and marked to be passed onto someone who wanted it and every book was given a serial number so its prior owner could even track its progress. Here's more from the BookCrossing website.

BookCrossing is the World's Library. It's a smart social networking site. It's a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 1,960,086 BookCrossers and 14,040,982 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.

BookCrossing

One thing I love about the site is the map and tracking feature. You can see what's near you and when you give away a book, you can keep tabs on it. And all of this is free, though you can contribute to their Wings program to get more perks. As someone who loves books and reading and also love the treasure hunting game Geocaching, this speaks to me in a lot of ways. I can't wait to try this out.