Blog of Romania

Bookcrossing has become an international phenomenon, but it doesn’t seem to work in Romania. Why? No one did a survey, but I can guess. Books are still expensive - at least in relation with the salaries. Internet use is still low, so even if someone finds a book, it probably won’t get registered. People are suspicious of free things (’what’s in it for me?’ is so very common…); the concept of a free book is difficult to understand for them, why would someone just give a book away? Mainly because of reason no. 1, most people are unwilling to permanently part with their books. So… here is where the story begins.

Schimb de Carti (Book Exchange) is a project started by Bookblog (a collective book reviews blog) and Gramos (couple Gigi and Ramona). Called Bookcrossing at first, it now has its own identity, because it was never linked directly to bookcrossing.com.

The concept is very simple: you come, you bring one or more books, you take one or more books home. After you read them, you bring them back and get more. The owner only loans his/her books, everybody gets to read stuff that’s not interesting enough to buy or too expensive or simply new to them. What started as a small get-together in Bucharest has now grown to dozens of people, 5 cities and 2 countries.

Dropping the numbers now, the things that draws me (and, I suppose, many of the participants) isn’t exactly the books. Yes, that is one of the reasons, but I already have too many books on my to be read list. So, what’s the thing then? The atmosphere. Cultural events are pretty far in between and they can be quite stuffy. Author sits in front and talks about his latest masterpiece, editor tries to make people buy as many copies as possible, the public listens then leaves. Schimb de Carti is populated with readers. You can meet people with the same literary tastes or you can try new things (with no strain on your wallet). When authors show up, it’s never like a book launch - friendly cup of tea or pint of beer would be a more appropriate description.

Meeting no. 8 was this December, with no. 9 coming up in January. We’re always happy to have visitors (Romanian or not!).

Original post for BlogofRomania.
Jen is 23, born and raised in Bucharest, did completely different things in high-school, undergrad and postgrad, and now is involved in various internet things.