Exchange old books for new, free of cost

Students who want to trade their old books are given tokens at the entry equivalent to the number of books they give.

Students who want to trade their old books are given tokens at the entry equivalent to the number of books they give. The book barter was started last year.

Students of Delhi University are organising a one-of-a-kind initiative through which students can barter old and already read books for new titles from an existing collection of books, free of cost. The two-day exchange is being held on April 6 and 7.

“The idea is to exchange one story for another, and in the process encourage students to pick a book and read. Usually students borrow books from libraries, but we thought it would be interesting to do something where students could exchange books permanently,” president of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) book club Sukriti Sekhri said. She is also one of the organisers of the book barter that is being organised at SRCC.

The exchange has seen hundreds of books already change hands. “We started the barter last year by creating a pool of about a 100 books from members of the book club. The response has been tremendous so far, with students from even South Campus colleges coming to exchange titles. In fact, we have received requests from many colleges to conduct the barter,” Sekhri said.

Students who want to trade their old books are given tokens at the entry equivalent to the number of books they give. They can redeem these coupons for their choice of books anytime during the course of the barter. However as a rule, kids books, school textbooks and magazines have been kept out of fray.

“The interesting thing is that not only are readers free to pick any book of their choice, but the pool of books is dynamic and keeps changing. This way, readers will always find a different collection of books every time they come for an exchange,” Disha Sachdeva, another member of the book club, told Newsline.

The barter system seems to be a hit amongst many students. “Being a college student, I can buy every novel that I like. Book barter is a great way to not just read more, but to do so affordably,” Sristi Bhatia, a BCom (Hons) student, said.

“The experience of reading a real book is very different from reading one on Kindle. The joy of holding a pretty book, shuffling through, the sight and smell of it is an experience in itself. Book barter is our attempt to draw readers into the good old world of paperbacks and hardcovers,” Sekhri added.

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