Bookcrossing

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Bookcrossing and GPS scavenger hunt

Bookcrossing is a project for the free distribution of books to known, but usually to unknown people. The path of the book can be followed by all previous owners via a central database on the project's website.

procedure

Books travel with the help of balloons at the 2005 Bochum anniversary meeting

Before being passed on, each book is registered on the bookcrossing website and given its own BCID ( B ook C rossing ID entity number). At the same time, a separate internet (sub) page will be created for the book, on which the current and future owners can leave their comments on the book.

After adding a handwritten note to the book or sticking a label with the BCID on it, it is passed on to friends or left somewhere in public. We recommend places that are sheltered from the weather, as some books cannot be found for a long time. As a rule, this "release" is also entered in the database so that other bookcrossers can search for the book in a targeted manner.

The finder enters the BCID on the website and can then write down where he found the book and, if necessary, how he liked it. This comment will be saved on the book's page and automatically emailed to whoever registered the book and any other previous owners. In this way, the history of the book and the opinions of the readers can be checked on the Internet at any time. However, not every book is found; some are considered to have disappeared for years until they reappear with an entry on the project website, others never appear again.

The registration of books is reserved for registered members of Bookcrossing, but anyone can write an entry as an anonymous finder , provided they know the full BCID.

The profile of each logged in user shows the bookshelf . All books are listed there that have been registered by the user in question, as well as all that he has found or received. Each book shows which user it is currently in or whether it can be found in a publicly accessible location.

history

Bookcrossing was invented by the American Ron Hornbaker, who on April 21, 2001, inspired by Where's George and Phototag, came up with the idea of ​​" releasing books into freedom" and thus founding a free book club.

Initially only a few were enthusiastic about the idea, but after a few articles in major US and German newspapers, including Der Spiegel , the daily newspaper , Rheinische Post , c't , the movement grew. Television also contributed to the increase in membership, for example with reports on the Tübingen meeting.

By August 2015, more than 1.4 million members had registered over 11 million books worldwide. There were around 74,400 members in Germany, around 7,600 in Switzerland and around 5,600 in Austria.

In Austria , the city of Perg in Upper Austria took up the idea in April 2011 as part of its six-year reading month under the motto “Perg reads” and initially set up 14 rest areas as official book-crossing zones for wandering books.

variants

Bookcrossing in Leipzig
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Over time, other types of bookcrossing have developed both inside and outside of bookcrossing . The basic principle (free distribution of books) remains the same. However, with some variants, the book is no longer released into the wild , but sent on by post (so-called controlled release ):

  1. In a bookring , the initiator offers the book on the Internet and sends it to the first interested party; the latter reads it, asks the second person's address and sends it on. The last one then sends it back to its starting point
  2. A bookray works the same way, but the last person in the row can dispose of the book at will.
  3. A bookbox also works like a bookring, but here a whole package of books (mostly on a specific topic) is sent on the journey. The recipient takes out the books that interest him, refills the package with other books on the same subject and sends the package on. Each book that is removed and placed in it receives its own journal entry, as is the case with normal "release".
  4. A Bookspiral (book spiral) works similarly to a Bookring or Bookray, but here a series of books is sent. First the first book will be sent. When the first recipient has read it and sends it on, the second book is brought to him on the journey and so on.
  5. Books with a special topic that a random finder would probably not be interested in, or comparatively valuable books that are too valuable to be “released”, can also be offered to other bookcrossers at any time in one of the discussion forums.
  6. The combination with geocaching is also widespread, in which, with a larger cache, the book is deposited as an exchange item.
  7. A public bookcase is used for free book exchange and storage in public places. Usually, however, there are no marked books to be found there.

German-speaking activities

Meetings take place regularly at regional level (usually once a month). There was an international meeting in Germany for the first time at Whitsun 2004 in Tübingen . Further Germany-wide meetings took place:

The first meeting in Austria took place at Whitsun 2009 in Vienna. Other meetings were held:

Where and when such regular meetings take place can be found on the German support website.

In addition to the official website, there is also a support page and a blog from BC members in German-speaking countries.

In Germany, there have been a number of bookcrossing zones since 2003 (OBCZ: O fficial B ook C rossing Z one) in which one can find “released” books. These zones are usually cafes or restaurants that have a special shelf or other space reserved for BC books. The exact location of the OBCZs in Germany can be found on the German support website. A supporting project was started in Stuttgart , through which around 1,000 books were passed on in January 2003. The so-called glass box was only set up for a week.

In Rostock, the Literaturhaus Rostock initiates a book liberation day every year to draw attention to the global phenomenon of bookcrossing. On this occasion, several hundred books will be distributed in the city center and encouraged to participate with information stands.

A bookcrossing box traveled with the Corso der Lichtgestalten , an action aimed at drawing attention to illiteracy in Germany.

The Goldmann Verlag has around one thousand books exposed the author Marc Costello, paranoia. The copies with an extra cover are not registered directly with Bookcrossing. The Betzel Verlag provides one copy of each of its new publications for a book ring, which is supervised by a bookcrossing sponsor. A number of publishers now support the bookcrossing campaigns. Including many small publishers, but also large publishers such as S. Fischer or Weltbild Verlag .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Where's George? ® ( English )
  2. ↑ PhotoTag
  3. ↑ bookcrossing.com , as of August 2015
  4. ↑ Membership overview on bookcrossing.com , as of August 2015
  5. ↑ Perg reads - the city of Perg sends hundreds of books on their way, in: Tips Perg, 13th week 2011, p. 16
  6. ↑ Berlin 2012
  7. ↑ Nuremberg 2014 ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unconvention.de
  8. ↑ I found a book! , accessed March 19, 2014
  9. ↑ http://www.ballycumber.de
  10. ↑ http://www.bookcrossing.region-stuttgart.de
  11. ^ Paranoia by Mark Costello - Review - BookCrossing
  12. ↑ BookCrossing - the BetzelVerlag bookshelf

Web links

Commons : Bookcrossing  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files