the encyclopedic entry of bookcrossing

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BookCrossing

BookCrossing (also: BC, BCing or BXing) is defined as "the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise". The term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book club which began and encouraged the practice and aims to "make the whole world a library".

The 'crossing' or exchanging of books may take any of a number of forms, including wild releasing books in public, direct swaps with other members of the websites, or "book rings" in which books travel in a set order to participants who want to read a certain book. The community aspect of BookCrossing.com has grown and expanded in ways that were not expected at the outset. In addition to forum discussions, mailing lists and annual conventions throughout the world.

History

Ron Hornbaker conceived the idea for what is now known as BookCrossing in March 2001. About four weeks later, on April 17, he launched the website, which has expanded and grown throughout the world. By April 2003 the website had over 113,000 members, and in 2004 the Concise Oxford Dictionary included the word "bookcrossing". In the same year, BookCrossing was featured as a part of a storyline in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. As of 23 March 2008, Bookcrossing.com had over 655,000 members, with over 4,600,000 registered books.

In July 2007 Singapore became the first official BookCrossing country in the world. In an initiative was launched together with the National Library of Singapore, 2,000 locations within the country were designated as 'hotspots', similar to Official BookCrossing Zones. In 2008, BookCrossing was introduced to Abu Dhabi as part of a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.

Awards

In May 2005 BookCrossing.com won two People's Voice awards in the Webby Awards for best community website and best social/networking website. BookCrossing was also featured in a BBC Radio project broadcast as 84 Book Crossing Road, which involved releasing 84 copies of Helene Hanff's book 84 Charing Cross Road around the world. The programme was produced by Tim Heffer and Alan Hall of Falling Tree Productions, and was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2006.

About

Anyone who wishes to participate in "releasing" books, whether leaving it in a public place or passing it on to a friend, must register on the BookCrossing.com website, although there is the option to remain anonymous when "catching" or recording the find of a book. BookCrossing.com users can 'go hunting', where a member will go to the website to view a list of books that have recently been "released", then go to the location it was left to "catch" it. Books may also be left at Official BookCrossing Zones" (OBCZs), which are located in certain coffee shops, cafes, restaurants and other public places. The purpose of these locations is to get current members in the area to leave books to share with the public. This also advertises BookCrossing and creates more members.

Controversy and criticism

In 2003, BookCrossing was criticized by Jessica Adams, author of several "chick lit" novels, who claimed that books were being "devalued" by the website as BookCrossing could lead to lower sales of books and, therefore, the reduction in royalties being paid to authors. Most BookCrossers dispute this argument, however. They claim that the website introduces readers to authors and genres that they have not read before, that the website encourages more people to take up or reclaim reading as a hobby, and that some members, having read a book that they have enjoyed, will buy extra copies to distribute through BookCrossing.

In March 2005, Caroline Martin, managing director of the publisher Harper Press, said in a speech that "book publishing as a whole has its very own potential Napster crisis in the growing practice of bookcrossing". BookCrossers rebut the link to Napster, saying that whilst music filesharing involves duplicating audio files countless times, BookCrossing doesn't involve duplicating books. Founder, Ron Hornbaker, originally wondered if people would make this comparison when BookCrossing was first launched.