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Help yourself: sharing bookshelf debuts in Zhongguancun Innoway

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: Nov 3, 2017 L M S

Beijing's first outdoor sharing bookshelf was recently launched in Zhongguancun Innoway, providing 24/7 hour self-help book lending service.

Currently it's tucked away a bit inconspicuously about a dozen meters away from the south entrance of Zhongguancun Innoway.

Hoping to make it easier for people to notice, the starter of the sharing bookshelf project, Li Bing, says a new signboard is currently under manufacture.

With a height of approximately two meters, the bookshelf is rotatable with a capacity of around 160 books. The books are categorized by genres including novel, history and prose.

When asked the reason for launching this project, Li simply said he loves reading. "When I talk about reading with book lovers, a lot of us think that books take up too much space and hope to share books with others," Li added.

The self-help service is the remedy to book-lovers clutter problem. As introduced, the book sharing service is free to the public and people can keep the book as long as they wish after scan the QR code on the book.

In regard to the development of the sharing bookshelf, Li said that fees will be charged in borrowing the books and people can also buy books from the self-service shelf.

More importantly, information such as book review will be offered to users and offline reading activities will also be organized.

"I am not worried about losing books and I think it's good enough as the bookshelf can serve people with real reading needs," said Li.