I
got excited whenever there’s any event related to books.
A book exchange?
Was
that a dream came true?
Of
course my curious self would want to check it out!
I’ve never been to a book exchange before.
I
quickly did my research about this particular book exchange event. I saw photos
of boxes displaying books on the roadside and people gathering around with
their hands full of exchanged books.
So,
I picked up a few books that I have read before and packed it into my own box
for the book exchange.
Even though it was at a roadside and can only be spotted
after an average sized green banner was being put up, it was surprisingly not
hard to find at all.
It
was my first time at this event and it rained. We had to move all the books and
the table to a nearby bank for shelter. I placed my box alongside others,
forgetting to count how many books I needed to exchange, and ran off to survey
what other’s had brought in their boxes.
I
found all three of The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit that were brand new,
Charlie Bone and The Blue Boa (if you have the Charlie Bone series, please lend
it to me!), a Spanish dictionary and a mini guide to better Feng Shui in your
office (it might come in handy someday, who knows?)
Overall,
you would mostly find:
1.
Mystery
and crime novels
2.
Really
thick fantasy novel
3.
Romance
novels
4.
Old
storybooks that probably survived a fire or a flood
5.
Workbooks
for secondary school kids
6.
Books
about law and code of practices
7.
Foreign
languages books (Korean, Japanese)
8.
Business
readings (how to become a billionaire)
There’s
always something for everyone.
The
idea came about when the recycling center nearby kept receiving unwanted books
and it was a waste to recycle them because each book has its own story to tell,
and that story was meant to be shared to others instead of just turning it into
recycled papers.
The
KL Book Exchange was then set up and books that ended up in the recycling bin
got the chance to be taken home by another owner and continued to spread its
message. Soon, people heard about this event and started bringing their own
books worthy of sharing in exchange for another book.
How
cool was that?
Saving
pre-loved books and at the same time giving the excitement of finding something
new during every event definitely makes the movement of encouraging people to
read to become more of a fun get-together, instead of a serious warning that
most campaigns try to portray.
I
exchanged a lot of books (because I brought 2 boxes) and had to remind myself
to stop. Most of the books that I had placed at the beginning of the event were
gone, and it was such an honor to see people exchanging their books with mine.
Well,
almost all of them were taken by a teenage girl though. I saw her sitting in a
corner sorting out stacks and stacks of my books, deciding which one to take
home. She must have wondered in disbelief why there were so many books that she
could relate to when there were usually all books for grown-ups.
My
teenage years were slowly slipping through my fingertips, and these books were
a great way to pass time and give valuable lessons to deal with teen problems.
I hope that whoever receives any pre-loved books would READ them, that’s the
least justice you could do to a book.
The
session was over and my friend and I went to its afternoon session in Sunway
Velocity. We had karipaps at Ikea next door and were late but there were just
as many books (maybe even more) than the morning event.
Books were laid out on
a table and some were displayed inside luggage bags near a corner. We’re the
last to leave and saw those luggage bags zipped up and ready to travel for the
next event.
For
my first experience, it was surprisingly enjoyable.
To
be honest, I was scared that it would all be books that were…not good enough. However,
it was ironic to see Dan Brown’s and Danielle Steel’s books inside those boxes.
(Couldn’t find J.K. Rowling though, it probably got exchanged as soon as the
books got displayed).
I
came home with one full box and a bag of books and it was definitely worth the
trip and effort. Hey, getting new books to read without even buying
(technically true) was something real.
So
why not?
KLBook Exchange will be held Every First
Sunday of the month from 8.45am to 10.45am at Wisma TM, Taman Desa and an
afternoon session from 2pm to 4pm at Sunway Velocity.
If you are worn out, tired
and just wanted to sleep in like every other Sunday (cheers!), mark your
calendars now because then you’ll have a
perfect reason to get out of bed, and come for the book hunt!
See
you there!