bookcrossing - n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place...

[Kire]

... to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

(added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)

You've come to a friendly place, and we welcome you to our book-lovers' community. Our members love books enough to let them go—into the wild—to be found by others. Book sharing has never been more exciting, more serendipitous, than with BookCrossing. Our goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its kind.

Let's get right down to it. You know the feeling you get after reading a book that speaks to you, that touches your life, a feeling that you want to share it with someone else? BookCrossing.com gives you a simple way to share books with the world, and follow their paths forever!

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

[jilln]

1. I do this unofficially ...

every time I travel. I write something in the inside cover to say where the book came from and release it. It's funny how it goes different in different places. In Scandinavian countries someone will invariably run blocks with the book to give it back to you. In other places no one gives a damn.