I realized this morning that I had not posted a link to PaperBack Swap, and I had a couple of emails and comments asking for more explanation. 

Go to www.paperbackswap.com and you can register.  Now find a stack of books in your house (and they can be in hardback too) in good condition (must have front and back covers, an ISBN number over the barcode and no writing inside other than maybe a name inside the front cover).  You can enter the books by their ISBN number and they’ll go into the big inventory.  When you sign up and put in your inventory, you get 2 free credits.

What I did then was purchase credits on the site for postage–I put $25 in so I could use it when mailing books from my inventory to other PBS members.  When someone surfing the site requested one of the books from my inventory, I printed the label from the site, which also printed the postage right on there and deducted it from my balance.  I have a bunch of bubble wrap envelopes here, so I just popped it in there and taped the label on and threw it in the mail.  You can also wrap the book by hand (they give the instructions) and put the label on as part of the wrapping.

Once your book is received (or mailed with postage printed from the site) you get a credit.  Every book you order is one credit.  When you’re done with the book, you can put the book back in your inventory, and then someone else can request it.  They even keep track of how many times a book is swapped and show mileage from one reader’s location to the next.

Generally, the postage for one book if you print it from the site is about $3.  Worth it to me for a book to read, and to clear my shelves of some of the books I bought and didn’t care for or have had around forever.  Right now I have 42 books in my inventory, stacked against the wall in my office.  I have mailed eight since yesterday, and have in turn ordered/requested eight other books that should be arriving over the next week or two.