WFC Book Roadtrip: Have Book, CAN Travel
If you found this blog post because you discovered a note in a book, read on! We invite you to participate in World Fantasy Convention 2020’s book road trip.
I tend to figure out something is on my bucket list at the same time I realize I can cross it off. But there is one bucket list goal I’ve had defined for a while: a BookCrossing road trip.
I’ve been on many road trips and will eventually be on more, but BookCrossing is something I’ve had my eye on for years and never actually participated in. BookCrossing lets you “release” books into the world to be discovered by anyone; you just print out a label and register the book with the website to get an ID number for it. Then you sit back and watch it travel the world. There are currently 13,294,304 registered books traveling throughout 132 countries.
So, I propose a WFC book road trip.
Recently I found C.J. Cherryh’s Faded Sun trilogy at a thrift store the day it was able to open again. I was excited to pick it up (and she’s our Author Special Guest!). Today I’m releasing it into the world to give someone else a good day. My hope is that not only will someone find it and enjoy the experience, but that we can get this book passed along to as many WFC members as we can in the process. BookCrossing’s mission is simply “to connect people through books.” I think that’s something WFC lines up with as well.
If you’d like to participate in the WFC road trip, here’s what you can do:
Watch the fun by tracking the book on the BookCrossing website. The ID number is 511-15955825.
If you do pick up the book, go to the website and update the book status by entering the book code on the BookCrossing home page. Make a “journal entry” about your experience there. We’ll post updates here on the blog every so often.
Then, once you’re ready, you can either “release it into the wild” (by placing it in whatever location you’d like) or you can do a “controlled release” by sending it to a particular location or person. Find more information on how to participate on the BookCrossing website.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!
Some precautions:
Obviously travel is limited at the moment. Take this into consideration and stay safe.
At my library, we wipe down our books and then quarantine them for a few days to be on the safe side. You should probably do the same.
As a newcomer to WFC this year, I’ve been really excited to join the WFC community and make new friends, memories, and contacts. Each blog post about WFC members’ first experiences with the convention has only fed that feeling. I’m sad that we can’t all meet together in person (Fairyland was NOTHING like this!). But I’ve already made friends being on the committee, and seeing this transition to virtual push us to innovate has been an adventure. It’s all going to pay off in October--another thing for the bucket list.
In the meantime, I’m excited to see where fantasy takes us. Here’s to an excellent road trip!
Lauren Abbott is Web Mistress for WFC 2020. She is a public librarian, writer, and graphic designer living in Idaho. She loves to travel and has lived in many places, including Utah, New Zealand, and Chile.