How often do you get a present when you go to interview somebody for an article? Not too much, I would say you. But during my last interview I got a present – a book! Amy Bartlett, a bookcrosser from Brussels (originally from Canada), gave me Terry Pratchett’s book “Jingo” to understand the concept of Bookcrossing much better.
Release and find books
BookCrossing? What is that? How can these words go together? Actually yes, quite easy, says Amy, who has been a bookcrosser for eight years and can not stop talking about the concept of it. Listen to her passion and emotions when she speaks about the positive karma travelling around the world, about making somebody’s day in such an easy way and about the lovely way how to connect with others!
BookCrossing is an online platform, created nine years ago, which gives the possibility for book lovers to release and find books in random places all over the world. Even if it sounds scary at a first glance to give away your books, it gives the possibility to increase your “bookshelf” (even if virtually), exchange opinions about books as well as give and get suggestions which are the most interesting books.
From Germany to Malaysia
“Some people struggle with Bookcrossing, because they want to keep their books. I struggled with it in the beginning and I kept a lot of my books, but then I started to realise that it is so exciting for other people to read the books I like and to pass them on. I have almost no books that I own. There are some that are gifts and I keep them because I do not feel comfortable giving away gifts all the time. My friends know me well enough now, so if they buy me a book, they say – you can bookcross it,” admits Amy, who has the biggest amount of bookcrossed books between Belgium bookcrossers – at the moment she has registered more than 400 books and released more than 500 books.
As a citizen of the world who has lived in six different countries and is travelling a lot, Amy has released books everywhere and is excited to see where they end up. She recalls a book she released in Germany and it is now in Malaysia or another book which flew away in her homeland Canada and five years later was registered in the website somewhere in the United States. Amy says: “You really start to get the global reach of this process and see how far good books and karma can travel.”
800 thousand members of BookCrossing
While I am going through the book she gave to me (by the way, a few days later I released it on a bench in Amsterdam and already a few minutes later the book was gone!), Amy tells about people she have met and books she have exchanged throughout these years. While living in Peru for a year, she once received a box full of books in English from a Brazilian bookcrosser who just saw her post in the forum saying that Amy misses books in her native tongue and sent her the present. Another book which she received from an Australian bookcrosser and released later on Rue de Midi was picked up and taken to Antwerpen. “I had never heard of BookCrossing before and was intrigued so I just signed up, but really have to do some work now, so no time to read just yet,” was the journal entry left by the lucky founder.
What is the secret which makes people want to buy books and later give them away? Maybe it is the curiosity they have, thinking what others say and how do they evaluate the particular book. Maybe it is “win-win” situation, understanding that you can also get from somebody else the book you have always wanted. Maybe it is a good will and a wish to make somebody very happy. Whatever is the answer, more than 800 thousand members of BookCrossing so far have registered more than six millions books and the number is increasing.
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