Knigovorot is open!
“A room without books is like a body without a soul,” Cicero said. Book lovers nourish their souls on books until all shelves in their rooms are jam-packed. Then what? What should one do with the beloved books if there is no more place to store them? They can share them with others! The Knigovorot project that started last week at the General Reading Hall of the Polytechnic University Fundamental Library serves exactly this purpose.
University staff and students can grant their books another life by simply leaving the book that you would like to share at the General Reading Hall in the Main Building or take the one you want for yourself. "We are trying to keep it as simple as possible, so there is no registration or monitoring involved," M. S. Lavrova, Deputy Director of SPbPU Fundamental Library, explained. "You can just come, choose a book, and take it home with you. You can take it back after you've read it or bring your own book and leave it there."
Knigovorot is our idea of the international BookCrossing movement. The Polytechnic University gave it a Russian name and simplified terms and conditions. Here, you can find everything from academic textbooks and manuals to popular science and fiction. "Curiously, the teaching staff prefer fiction, while among students, textbooks and problem books are popular," Mariya Sergeyevna observed.
On the day of Knigovorot's launch, 400 books were exhibited on dedicated shelves at the General Reading Hall. According to the librarians, it took the project just a few hours to get under way: first, a lot of books were taken, and then, two hours later, new ones took their place.
"I was happy to see the project working on the very first day, the dynamics of book circulation was great," M. S. LAVROVA pointed out. "Most people have books that they have read and don't need anymore, but they can't just throw them out. This is the idea behind the project: to keep books from being destroyed and make them affordable."
Soon, there is going to be another Knigovorot point at the Department of Fiction on Grazhdansky Prospekt. The Department of Information and Bibliography is going to support and develop the project. "If we see that demand is high, there are a lot of books, and people like the project, we will open new points and expand," Mariya Sergeyevna shared.
If you have books that you have forgotten about and are not going to reread, maybe it would be better to give them to somebody who actually needs them? Bring your books to Knigovorot, and each of them will find a new home!
SPbPU Media Center