Bookcrossing ... An amazing concept.

I was reading the other stories for Storytelling Sunday (I have only read a few so far so if I haven't commented on your story I haven't gotten to it yet) when I came across a story by Sandie about Bookcrossing.  Now I hadn't heard of this amazing site so I will assume that unless you participate in Storytelling Sunday you won't have heard about it either.  Here are some of the details from their 'About Us' page ...

What is BookCrossing?

It's 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 1,234,206 BookCrossers and 9,235,751 books travelling throughout132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.

What's our mission?

Very simply, we aim to connect people through books.

How do we do it?

Label. Share. Follow. Breath new life into books instead of letting your old favorites collect dust - pass them along to another reader. Our online archival and tracking system allows members to connect with other readers, journal and review literature and trade and follow their books as lives are changed through “reading and releasing”. Users are able to tag and track their individual books by marking them with BCIDs (BookCrossing Identity Numbers). Each BCID is unique to each book – once it’s registered on our site, the book can then be followed and journaled forever. BookCrossing is free to join and free to play. So don't be 'shelf'ish with your books - read and release!

The whole idea appealed to me greatly and I have since joined the site (user name "jetsettingchipper" if you wish to friend me) and plan on releasing a few books tomorrow!  I loved the idea soooooooo much that I even joined the shop up and have set it up as an Official Bookcrossing Zone (OBCZ).  That means we have a shelf for people to come and take books from and also release books into.  I went to KMart and bought a bookcase and a handful of books to get us started.  I am so excited about it and it seems lots of our customers are too.  They have said that they will be donating books to the shelf to get the ball rolling.  As we are a place where mothers and grandmothers often come I also want to get some kids books on the shelves.  Can you imagine the look of joy on a child's face when you tell them that they can keep the book, that it is just for them ?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Here is our bookcase :-)

Many of our regular customers in the store are avid readers and we are often discussing books at our craft evenings.  I hope that this will be a much loved addition.  Anyone, be they customers or not, are welcome to drop in grab a book to take away with them and if they feel like it there is always a cuppa on hand :-)

You can also do 'controlled releases' with your books.  This is where your book goes to a specific person of your choice.  By registering it with Bookcrossing you will have a record of where the book has gone.  It is quite a remarkable concept.

Thank you Sandie for telling the story of her summer book releases.  I haven't had as much fun as I did today in a long time.  It was so hard to choose only five books to buy!  One of the books has already been 'caught' ... by The Extrovert!  Apparently he has been waiting for the school library to get the book.  He will probably have it read and back on the shelf by Friday.

Happy reading,

Chipper