Though many avid readers might consider themselves more solitary than heavily socially networked beings, Web developments in recent years have offered the opportunity for the bookworms among us to connect with one another through favorite titles, spar over best-of lists, and even share their personal libraries virtual friends near and far. Shelfari is one such popular service. Red Room is another. There’s BookMooch, too.
The last is one which gets especial focus today. First mentioned here at Mashable back in 2006, and a number of times in the months thereafter, BookMooch has built its network of users on the sensible idea that books are the kind of devices that are browsed and borrowed after leaving the publisher’s hand. In less than two years’ time, the membership has managed to build itself into a community spanning a series countries and one whose services cater to a similarly diverse set of language speakers.
This week marked the latest evolutionary steps taken in the network’s steady progression. Among the new features are the option for users to reserve books for particular friends, as well as the ability to make exceptions for distribution of volumes across international bounds.
The latter option is notably convenient. Naturally, many users are likely to want to note by default their willingness to share books with people within their own natural jurisdiction. But if a user happens to befriend someone from foreign soil and would like to grant said “moocher” the desired hard- or softback, one may easily do so. Also, to decrease the likelihood of confusion or conflict over book reservations or requests, BookMooch’s “Ask me first” specification has been refreshed a bit to allow users to automatically send emails through the system, rather than be forced to sidestep it and risk seeing the book escape your reach. This could further help international users to obtain books if the owner requires that non-domestic users post queries for titles via email rather than the standard mooching program.
