One of our Clutter Diet members in the UK was telling us in the member message boards that they have a book swap shelf at work. That is BRILLIANT!
Why not do this in your own workplace? Here are the benefits:
- Gives your gently used books a good home (and gets them out of your house)
- Promotes a literary culture in the workplace, and probably some great discussions over lunch
- Allows opportunities for receiving new good books without spending any money
- Promotes a greater sense of community in the workplace in general
At agreed-upon intervals, someone could take all of the books that are not claimed or swapped to a used bookstore. The money received could go into the company coffee fund or something. (Or, the unclaimed books could be taken to a charity drop-off.) This is a really easy little workplace morale boost! Let us know if you give it a try.
This is an awesome idea, Lorie. Reminds me of the time I started a Writing Club at work. About 10 of us started creative writing at noon and by 1 pm, we all read each other our stories. By month #3, there were 3 of us - 2 men (me and Dan) and 1 woman (Sylvia). Sylvia worked for Dan. Dan wrote poetry, I wrote analogies, and Sylvia wrote "slice of life" stories. So, it's amazing what you can do at work to make things more fun. The kicker is that we were in the manufacturing department!
Oh, by the way, it's also fun to have a virtual book swamp using the Facebook/My Space of books - www.shelfari.com. It's a great way to show which books you have, which books you're about to read, and which books you're reading right now. Hope to see you there soon!
Clyde
Posted by: Clyde Lerner | March 24, 2008 at 12:02 PM
I love this idea. A coffee shop near my house has a small bookshelf dedicated to a free book swap, and I have a few titles set aside to bring over there.
p.s. I love Shelfari, too!
Posted by: Jen Zug | March 24, 2008 at 03:28 PM
This works in neighborhoods too !
Posted by: Jon King | March 25, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Everyone has a book swap. Its called the library!
Why spend money on a novel, DVD, book on CD, cook book etc. when I can get it for free?
Most libraries will even buy a book you request for their collection. Chances are if you are interested in it, so are others.
I only buy books I really want and need after checking them out from the library. Saves on clutter.
Posted by: karie | March 26, 2008 at 01:31 PM
We do the same thing with magazines in my office. It's fun to see what other people subscribe to and is a guilt-free way to unload my own magazines.
Posted by: shayla | March 27, 2008 at 08:18 AM