BookCrossing
Encyclopedia
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise." The term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book club which began in order to encourage the practice, aiming to "make the whole world a library."
The 'crossing' or exchanging of books may take any of a number of forms, including wild releasing books in public, direct swaps with other members of the websites, or "book rings" in which books travel in a set order to participants who want to read a certain book. The community aspect of BookCrossing.com has grown and expanded in ways that were not expected at the outset, in the form of blog or forum discussions, mailing lists and annual conventions throughout the world.
History
Ron Hornbaker conceived the idea for what is now known as BookCrossing in March 2001. About four weeks later, on April 17, he launched the website, which has expanded and grown throughout the world. By April 2003 the website had over 113,000 members, and in 2004 the Concise Oxford Dictionary included the word "bookcrossing". In the same year, BookCrossing was featured as a part of a storyline in the AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
. In the same year, BookCrossing had good start in Croatia too, thanks to Velimir Schubert. As of 23 July 2010, Bookcrossing.com had over 871,000 members, with over 6,427,000 registered books.
In July 2007 Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
became the first official BookCrossing country in the world. In an initiative launched together with the National Library of Singapore
National Library, Singapore
The National Library in Singapore is located on an 11,304-square metre site between Bugis Junction and the Bras Basah Complex at 100, Victoria Street...
, 2,000 locations within the country were designated as 'hotspots', similar to Official BookCrossing Zones. In 2008, BookCrossing was introduced to Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
as part of a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. In 2010. BookCrossing Zones were introduced in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Awards
In May 2005 BookCrossing.com won two People's Voice awards in the Webby AwardsWebby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
for best community website and best social/networking website. BookCrossing was also featured in a BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
project broadcast as 84 Book Crossing Road, which involved releasing 84 copies of Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff was an American writer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is best known as the author of the book 84, Charing Cross Road, which became the basis for a stage play, , and film of the same name.- Career :...
's book 84 Charing Cross Road
84 Charing Cross Road
84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between her and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co, antiquarian booksellers located at the eponymous address in London, England.Hanff, in search of...
around the world. The programme was produced by Tim Heffer and Alan Hall of Falling Tree Productions, and was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
in 2006.
About
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s and other public places. The purpose of these locations is to get current members in the area to leave books to share with the public. This also advertises BookCrossing and creates more members.
Conventions and unconventions
There is a BookCrossing anniversary convention every April, where BookCrossers go to enjoy organized literary-related events and release books together. The location of the convention changes each year: Dublin, Ireland (2012), Washington, D.C., USA (2011), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2010), Christchurch, New Zealand (2009), London, UK (2008), Charleston, SC, USA (2007), Toronto, Canada (2006), Fort Worth, TX, USA (2005), St. Louis, MO, USA (2004). Many unofficial conventions or "unconventions" take place at other locations and times throughout the year, making it easier for BookCrossers who cannot travel internationally for the convention to gather and share their love of books.Controversy and criticism
In 2003, BookCrossing was criticized by Jessica Adams, author of several "chick litChick lit
Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly. The genre sold well during the 1990s and 2000s, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit...
" novels, who claimed that books were being "devalued" by the website as BookCrossing could lead to lower sales of books and, therefore, the reduction in royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
being paid to authors. Most BookCrossers dispute this argument, however. They claim that the website introduces readers to authors and genres that they have not read before, that the website encourages more people to take up or reclaim reading as a hobby
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
, and that some members, having read a book that they have enjoyed, will buy extra copies to distribute through BookCrossing.
In March 2005, Caroline Martin, managing director of the publisher Harper Press, said in a speech that "book publishing as a whole has its very own potential Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
crisis in the growing practice of bookcrossing". BookCrossers rebut the link to Napster, saying that whilst music filesharing involves duplicating audio files countless times, BookCrossing doesn't involve duplicating books (and also does not involve violating copyright, as books can be sold or given away freely without permission of the publisher being needed). The founder of BookCrossing, Ron Hornbaker, originally wondered if people would make this comparison when BookCrossing was first launched.
Prominent BookCrossers
- Richard BachRichard BachRichard David Bach is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely...
http://www.texaswren.com/authors.html - R J Ellory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI39NoEzNJo
- Jim HawkinsJim HawkinsJim Hawkins is a BBC radio presenter.-Personal:Hawkins was born in Essex and brought up there and in Warwickshire in England.-Career:...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/JimOnTheRadio
See also
- PostcrossingPostcrossingPostcrossing is an online project that allows its members to send and receive real postcards from all over the world. The project's tag line is "send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world!” Its members, also known as Postcrossers, send postcards to other...
- gift-giving community of postcards - BeWelcomeBeWelcomeBeWelcome is a hospitality exchange service that is run by a non-profit organisation. The site was founded in February of 2007 by volunteers from another hospitality exchange website Hospitality Club. As of November 2011, the organisation has more than 15,000 members from all over the world who...
– an open sourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
and non-profit hospitality exchange network - CouchSurfingCouchSurfingCouchSurfing International Inc. is a corporation based in San Francisco that offer its users hospitality exchange and social networking services. It is a for-profit private corporation, planning to go public. With more than 3 million profiles in 246 countries and territories, CouchSurfing has an...
- for-profit hospitality exchange network - Hospitality ClubHospitality ClubThe Hospitality Club is an international, Internet-based hospitality service of appr. 300,000 members in 226 countries Its members use the website HospitalityClub.org to coordinate accommodation and other services, such as guiding or regaling travelers....
- gift-giving community of hospitality - The Freecycle NetworkThe Freecycle NetworkThe Freecycle Network is a non-profit organization registered in the state of Arizona, USA, and separately registered as a UK charity, that organizes a worldwide network of "gifting" groups, aiming to divert reusable goods from landfills...
- gift-giving community - DaruDarDaruDarDaruDar is an international community where people give away things, their skills and time to each other for absolutely free requiring nothing in return....
- gift-giving community of things and skills - Bike crossing
- PaperBackSwapPaperBackSwapPaperBackSwap is a club co-founded in 2004 by Richard Pickering and Robert Swarthout of Suwanee and Rome, Georgia, . Swarthout later left the company to pursue other ventures. The purpose of PaperBackSwap is to use the Internet to facilitate the parity trading of books among member bibliophiles...
- Kashless.orgKashless.orgKashless.org was a web-based marketplace where everything is free . Kashless provided a platform to find and redistribute any used or unwanted items, with the goal of reducing users' carbon footprint by consuming less...
- Book swappingBook swappingBook swapping or book exchange is the practice of a swap of books between one person and another. Practiced among book groups, friends and colleagues at work, it provides an inexpensive way for people to exchange books, find out about new books and obtain a new book to read without having to pay...
- ReuseReuseTo reuse is to use an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function, and new-life reuse where it is used for a different function. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw materials which are used to make new...
- SharingSharingSharing the joint use of a resource or space. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of an inherently finite good, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. Apart from obvious instances, which we can observe in human...
- Gift economyGift economyIn the social sciences, a gift economy is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards . Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community...