Ideas want to be shared

You are whatyou read. Pass it on.

LendBorrowDiscussGiftHunt

Books are how ideas get around. Open your shelf, lend a few, and your street becomes a library. For people who love ideas (and people).

01 — Your branch

Every shelf is a branch of the library.

A shelf is dormant infrastructure, not clutter. Add your books, mark what you'll share. That's how your books find their next reader.

Point your phone at the barcode on the back of any book. It appears.

Hover a cover to see the marginalia

Small Gods
Let's discuss
Om is my favorite tortoise philosopher
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Will lend
You'll either love it or pretend to
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
On my shelf
Every reading reveals something new
Guards! Guards!
Free to good home
Own too many copies. A good problem.
The Dispossessed
Looking for this
The ambiguous utopia awaits

02 — Right next door

Your neighbourhood is already
a library without a building.

biblocal maps the shelves and bookshops around you, so the next book you want to read is a short walk away, not a shipping label.

Sarah K. 7 books
Corner Books 340 books
Marcus T. 12 books
Priya M. 5 books
Reader's Haven 520 books
You

Your neighbourhood, quietly full of fellow readers.

03 — The company your books keep

Five ways your shelf overlaps with theirs.

The ideas on your shelf are already circulating nearby. Where shelves overlap, the conversations tend to be waiting.

  1. Shelf Twin

    Suspiciously similar shelves

    Example You both own that one Calvino nobody finishes. You both finished it.

  2. Book Scout

    They've been where you're going

    Example Owns three books on your maybe-someday list

  3. Neighbor

    Walking distance

    Example 800 meters away. Has the book. Puts the kettle on.

  4. Debate Partner

    The reader who argues back

    Example You'll argue about Kundera for an hour and both enjoy it

  5. Syllabus Survivor

    Shared academic scars

    Example Both required to read it. Both actually did.

More dots, more shelf in common. That's the whole algorithm.

The sequel to a great book is lending it

Set your books loose.

The library is open

Ready when
you are.

Add a few books. Open your shelf. The rest tends to happen on its own, one neighbour at a time.