Is There A Book Sharing Network?

dmorin asks: "Having recently been laid off I find myself with more time to read and less money to spend on books. I stare at the shelves full of books I already have, most of which I won't read again, and wonder if there's an easy way to move them around the universe a bit. Get some new ones. I've thought about eBay, but I'm not sure that time and effort (cataloging, pricing, describing, shipping, etc..) would ever balance out. What I'm looking for is a site where people basically say 'Hey, here are some books I have, if you want one, I'll send it to you.' Note I didn't say 'sell'. This would be more about keeping the books in circulation for the sake of getting fresh stuff to read, not for making a profit. You paid for the book, you got something out of it, now let somebody else share it. And, of course, you're supposed to be asking other people for their books, too. Anything like that out there? Would anybody use such a thing?"

"This is not Book Crossing. Although I find that an awesome idea, I'm looking for more of a steady stream of books at my disposal, not just being lucky enough to stumble upon one under a picnic table.

I suppose such a service would have to have some sort of karma/moderation system to make sure that people were playing nice and not just hoarding others' books (since, unlike bookcrossing, the person donating would have to cough up some money for shipping it)."

Comments

First library post!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a good booksharing network. Donate.

Library

[Mr_Person]

Why not donate the books you don't want anymore to your local public library? Then others can read them for free and if other people donate their unused books you can read them for free. Sounds like it fills most of the requirements you listed, though perhaps over not quite as large a geographic area. And as a bonus, most libraries will even put a nifty "Donated by" tag in the front of the book!

Used bookstores too

[obtuse]

Libraries are great! But: Your library may not be able to use your books, and may end up selling them off cheaply at a booksale. It's kind to give them a shot. I believe in libraries, but I know they actually have to pare down their collections, so don't give them a pile of crap.

Depending on the books you've collected, you may be able to sell them to used bookstores. They'll usually offer you more in credit than they do cash, so you can make trades more economically.

I've gone & sold 2/3 of a large pile to a used bookstore, then taken the last 1/3 to another used bookstore, & sold 2/3 of that. Iterate as desired. The last few I either kept or gave to Goodwill. I've given lots of books to friends, too.

I do a few things to economize on books. I am a real addict though. I even met my wife working in a bookstore.

Buy books at thrift stores, rummage sales, or library book sales. There are lots of wonderful books being sold by the peck sack.

Used bookstores can have bargains, but can also be overpriced. Very few computer books are of much use either to buy or sell, in a used bookstore. This akin to a friend of a friend's experience trying to sell a desktop computer to a pawn shop.

I try not to buy books I won't want to keep in the long run. Lots of books are very available through Project Gutenberg & the public libraries. You can read most classics free.

I also have a readers card at the nearest University library. It's not free, but it makes a lot of stuff available to me that I couldn't see otherwise. I think it's a better bargain at $75/year than O'Reilly's Safari.

Safari's a nice idea. Especially for geek books with a limited lifespan. Renting books troubles me a little though. If I want it enough to pay to rent it, as a professional, I'll likely want to own it anyway.