Monday, June 10, 2002

Other People's Reading Piles V
I've been following some of the free book exchange and loan projects -- apologies for not sharing more resources previously -- and NPR recently aired a piece on two such services: BookCrossing and Free Words. The basic of these two projects is simple. You read a book -- or you self-publish a book -- and then you leave it out in public for others to pick up, read, and pass on.

Another service I've come across is BooksFree, a Netflix-like subscription service that involved, well, paperback books instead of DVD's. I don't know why anyone would sign up for that instead of -- say -- using the library, but BooksFree's very existence adds to the indications that people like books... and that people like sharing books. DIY distribution!

Thanks to Utne Web Watch.

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