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BookCrossing ? Encouraging Literacy

BookCrossing.com has won two People’s Voice Webby awards for being the best community website and best social/networking website in the year 2005. The membership to the site BookCrossing.com is free and it was established in 2001 by Ron Hornbaker and his partners. It has offices in Kansas and Idaho. The site wishes to encourage classroom projects and encourage people to read.

A Global Phenomenon
Book Crossing is referred to as the process by which books are left in public places to be picked up and read by the public who then leave the book in public for the same purpose. The idea is to promote literacy and make the world one large lending library. The popularity of the site is owed in part to extensive press coverage, word-of-mouth publicity, classroom projects and by the publicity material attached to the books that have been released.

The site has gained immense popularity with several hundred thousand members who have released millions of books. The members are from more than 150 countries, with the largest concentration being in the United States. Many of the members are from Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, South Africa and France.

BookCrossing members register the books that they intend to release and get a unique BookCrossing ID number for their book. Those who pick up the book may read it, make an effort to join the club, make a journal entry tagging the book as captured.

BookCrossing.com is popular with authors as well as publishers as its members are avid readers and as it offers them several chances to promote their books.

The majority of its members are women between the age groups 25 and 45. The members need an internet connection and most of them love books and reading. Members love the concept as they feel they are contributing to help make the world an interconnected place by promoting literacy and as many who picked up the books said the books changed their life for the better. More people are encouraged to become members.

Members are keen to track the journey of the books they released, to learn about the people who have read it and released it themselves. The site offers its members a list of the books released, list of books that have been picked up the most, reviews written by those who have caught it etc. Some members have released as many as 4000 books! This is another reason why publishers and authors have nothing to complain about! The members discuss and interact in forums and conventions making it a hobby they are proud of.

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