Book-Cycle (Exeter, UK)

[helen99]

This link was called to my attention by rebelfilms: Book-Cycle.

Its availability and range of service seems to be pretty localized to Exeter, Brighton and thereabouts, but still - it would be nice to support the effort in some way. They're basically an open-source-style bookstore.

Their motto is "From Tree to Book and Back Again" derived from the fact that they rescue unwanted saplings from nurseries, and offer them to people to take with the books.

"You may take up to three books, three trees and spend up to three hours on the internet per day, and pay whatever you wish. Everything we do is on a donations only basis."

From http://www.book-cycle.org/FAQ

"Q: How does it work?

A: You may take up to three books, three trees and spend up to three hours on the internet per day, and pay whatever you wish. Everything we do is on a donations only basis.

Q: Are you serious?

A: Yes, really, you can pay whatever you wish, for all our products and services.

Q: How much do people usually pay?

A: We give you no indication of what other people pay. You pay whatever the books are worth to you! We have no idea of your means so can not tell you how much you should pay.

...

Q: Do the staff get paid?

A: No-one gets paid for any part of their work at Book-Cycle. Book-Cycle is run completely by volunteers.

Comments

[rejoicingapathy.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's kind of similar to the Book Thing of Baltimore. Except Book Thing has fewer trees and less internet. Actually, it's just free books. But hey, free books!

If you are ever wondering where to unload boxes of unused books, that is totally the place to go. Then, you will magically find fifty books that you would like to maybe read someday.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

That's something to definitely stay away from lest my house run out of floor space check out.

[historychick49.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm on the other side of the Appalachians. I think.

(Now I want to get rid of the two stacks of books on my coffee table so I can.... get more books. NOT a good thing, right before moving.)

[dancinglights.livejournal.com]

omg that is dangerously close to where I work....

thank you for sharing!

[helen99.livejournal.com]

From the FAQ:

* Is there a limit to how many books I can take?
You can only take 150,000 per day per person.

Dangerously indeed...

I'm a little disturbed by this one though:

* What's the catch?
All the books you take have to be stamped, "Not for Resale." That's it.

Hm. I wonder why? I've heard that books are sometimes or sold to a salvage bookstore at the author's or publisher's expense if the books don't sell from bookstore shelves after a certain time. I wonder if Book Thing store is something like that. That "Not for Resale" bit makes me suspect something weird.

[dancinglights.livejournal.com]

I was assuming it was to keep people from taking 150,000 books and then selling them used on Amazon/Alibris/etc.

It's bad enough how common it is for antique/vintage store folks to grab valuable antiquey furniture at Goodwill and the like and not even bother cleaning them up before reselling at actual-worth prices. I can accept it if they do a certain amount of restoration work but that's just tacky.

[helen99.livejournal.com]

You're right. Without the "not for resale" stamp, someone could take 150,000 books per day home for a week, and resell them for the going rate. The author or small publisher would already have paid the cost of the books not selling before the books ever arrived at Book Thing, so the "not for resale" stamp wouldn't hurt them (or affect them at all).

[chiashurb.livejournal.com]

That is fabulously wonderful.

[rebelfilms.livejournal.com]

it is, I found it by chance yesterday wandering past along a nearby road and someone had chalked a sign to it on the pavement so I went for a look.

[kiarrith.livejournal.com]

wow.
good luck to them all.