Back in 2008, BAUFACHFRAU (a co-op of apprentices of forestry, carpentry, cabinetmaking, media design, printing and bookselling) sought to create the first public bookcase in Berlin, Germany.
Using fallen trees, they created a series of bookshelves using the trunk as a stand and housing for books. Dubbed the ‘Book Forest’, the public bookcase made books available to the public through a program called ‘Bookcrossing‘ (more on bookcrossing below).
The initiative was recognized as an official project of the UN-Decade 2008/2009 ‘Education for Sustainable Development’.
Bookcrossing in 4 Simple Steps
1. Pick one of your books… one you have read or one you haven’t read.
2. Register the book at: http://www.bookcrossing.com/howto
3. Write the BCID numer inside the cover. Add a label or write the BookCrossing info or add additional markings, stickers, notes, etc to make the book more noticeable
4. Release the book. That means: leave it behind somewhere for the next reader to find, or give it to someone. Make a ‘release note’ to let the world know that your book is out there.
On the website there’s a record of each book that has been BCID’D. Each book has it’s own unique page where people can leave comments about the book, where they left it, who they passed it on to etc. Each book’s journey is also documented and you can check out some of the most ‘travelled’ books here
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