Swap a book. Gain a memory. Change a life.
The Big Book Swap is an organisation dedicated to inspiring readers, helping people to share their literary passions, and raising the profile of reading and books throughout the UK and internationally.
Events take on different formats, but all encourage readers to bring along a copy of their favourite book with an inscription in the cover as to what touched them, what made them laugh, cry, or ponder, and to swap it for someone else’s. At the same time we plan to raise the profile of literary charities and community projects, invite guest speakers to entertain us, and provide a social networking forum for participants.
-ooOoo-
“It was great to be at an event that centred on the power of books to change the world; somehow, in that room, that evening, I felt that we were on the verge of something really exciting and positive!”
-Ian McMillan
Thanks to everyone who came along to the inaugural Big Book Swap on 20th January 2010. We hope you will agree that the event was a big success and thanks go especially to our guest speakers, Ian McMillan, Bernard Ashley and Elizabeth Laird for entertaining us with such wit and enthusiasm, and imparting a little bit about which books and stories have inspired them over the years.
We were hugely grateful to everyone who donated funds and bought raffle tickets and we are delighted to announce that we raised over £550 for Pelican Post which will assist in buying much-needed books for a number of schools across Africa. Thanks for giving so generously and congratulations to all of our raffle prize winners. We have had some excellent feedback and hopefully everybody who came went home with a fantastic new read, and maybe a few new favourite books have been discovered!
Plans are afoot for the next Big Book Swap which we hope will take place in London later in the spring. We are also responding to requests from people in other parts of the country who wish to hold their own Book Swaps so, for those not in the capital, please do let us know if you would like to organise an event in your area and we would be delighted to support you.
Thanks once again!
Kim & Kim
The Big Book Swap Team
“It’s very easy in this country, where books are both readily available and affordable to forget what a luxury they are in other parts of the globe. The Big Book Swap is a brilliant initiative which will allow people to not only share their love of reading in a fun, informative and friendly environment, but will also raise awareness of literacy in African schools and will allow participants to make a tangible difference to a child’s life.” -Mariella Frostrup
“The Book Swap is a great idea. The books people brought were widely varied, and the comments in them ranged from a terse ‘I liked this, I hope you do, too’ to insightful reasons for reading something. I hope it catches on.” -Bernard Ashley
