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=                           Book_swapping                            =
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                            Introduction
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A "street book exchange" in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan]]Book
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.  Because swaps occur between individuals,
without central distribution or warehousing, and without the copyright
owner making a profit, the practice has been compared to peer-to-peer
(P2P) systems such as BitTorrent--except that hard-copy original
analog objects are exchanged.


                   College book exchange programs
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Many colleges and universities have developed online book exchange
programs to help students save money on textbooks. Some colleges build
their own systems and others use systems from third party service
providers.


                      Informal book exchanges
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Some book exchanges are informal - a shelf or box is provided where
books can be left or picked up. The exchange relies on users leaving
and taking books and is generally not supervised.

This is a frequent practice in youth hostels where travellers can
leave a book and take a different book with them. Some railway
stations in Great Britain have informal book exchanges and one has
also been set up in a phone box in Kington Magna.

Such bookshelves are popular also in Baltic states, funded by local
municipalities or by the governments. In Riga, the society "Zero Waste
Latvia" counted more than 20 bookshelves and boxes in 2024.


                       Book swapping websites
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* BookCrossing, an online book swapping site
* BookMooch, an online book swapping site
* ReadItSwapIt, an online book swapping site
* Little Free Library, trading posts that offer free books, housed in
small containers, to members of the local community
* PaperBackSwap, an online book swapping club restricted to the USA
* Lenro, used to connect book readers locally (same
college/neighborhood)


                              See also
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* Collaborative consumption, a trend describing similar swapping and
lending organizations
*Public bookcase


                           External links
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*
[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/14/guardian-and-observer-book-swap-how-to-take-part
The Guardian and Observer Book Swap: how to take part]


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