How many of you have heard of BookCrossing before? And how many of you actually participate or have participated in BookCrossing? I first heard of it almost ten years ago but for some reason, it doesn’t seem to be all that big here.
Basically, BookCrossing presumes the entire world to be a library. Participants can pick up a book, register it online, keep it as long as they like to read it, then set it free again into the wild for the next person to read. This way books are made accessible to anyone who chooses to pick them up.
Somehow I landed on their website today after I was searching for a particular book that was first published in the 70s and last reprinted in the 80s. That led me to wonder how big a thing it still is today. Turns out more than 2 million people are registered. If you’ve never been to the site, go on and take a look:
After looking around a bit more I found out that the majority of the participants reside in the USA, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland. As it is, I currently live in none of these countries, so that probably explains why I never really got into it. I’m thinking about it though. I’m sure I can hunt down the locations if I set my mind on it.
If you are part of the BookCrossing community, what have your experiences been like? If you’re not, what have you heard about it? Also, if you’ve never taken part, what’s been keeping you from doing so?
I used to participate in it. It was exciting when my books got “caught” but that only happened twice and eventually I just drifted away from it.
Sounds like it really does matter how accessible the books are. Such a waste you ended up drifting away.