The 1st Book Swap was held in November 2011 at Pantai Muara.
Strictly speaking, this was not a B:READ event. It was conceived by Erika Lim, and was a joint effort between Erika and and the B:READ committee.
- Date: November 27th, 2011
- Event URL: on.fb.me/bookswapbn
Photos
Book Swap, 27th Nov 2011:
- Nov 2011 – “Swap ‘Em, Read ‘Em” (Book Swap), photos by Hazirah & Erika
- Brunei’s First Bookswap Event, photos by Delwin Keasberry aka @BruneiTweet
Collection Point, 25th Nov 2011:
- Food Court = Books? Makes sense!, photos by Hazirah
How did it work?
Check-in Area
At the check-in area, all guests had to record down their name, contact details and the titles of the books they were swapping. They could also indicate whether their books that were not swapped could be used for future bookswaps, donated to libraries or schools, re-sold, or, if desired, taken back by the original owner.
Check-out Area
At the check-out area, the volunteers would check that the books taken out did not exceed the number of books originally taken in. The titles of the books taken out were not recorded. Guests were allowed to send their books earlier, so as to have a number of books to browse when the event began at 12noon.
Collection Point
Those who could not attend the bookswap were also allowed to send their books, and after the event they would be allowed to take books left over in the “pool”. Apart from individual collections arranged with Erika and Hazirah, a collection point was set up on the 25th Nov 2011 at Kiulap Food Court. (It was fun, btw.) More information here: Event FAQs
News & Coverage
Blogs:
- Brunei’s First Bookswap on Projek Brunei, 29 Nov 2011
- The Book Swap at Muara Beach on Ranoadidas, 5 Dec 2011
Newspaper articles:
- Brunei’s First Public Book Swap Tomorrow by Quratul-Ain Bandial, The Brunei Times, 26 Nov 2011
- First Bookswap Activity A Hit by Anwar Haji Rosly, The Brunei Times, 28 Nov 2011
- Beach, blue skies and books by emmagoodegg, The Brunei Times, 4 Dec 2011
This bookswap helped to kick off a slew of other book-related events, as well as to boost the popularity of the (then) Brunei Bookswap group. As a result, the B:READ committee decided to take the Brunei Bookswap group under its wing and organise more bookswap events.
We also ended up with over 100 books that were leftover from the swap. From here, we conceived the Bookswap Pool which would hold books for our future bookswaps.
People
Erika Lim first suggested the event on 4th Nov 2011. She created the poster and secured the venue. Erika was the event creator and event manager of this Bookswap, with publicity and support from Brunei Bookswap. Thanks Aprizah, Carol, Erika, Faiq, Faiq #2, Hazirah, Jin Shen, Nazmi, Neil, Norliza, Shimah, Teah and William for:
- Attending meetings regarding the event
- Helping with publicity prior to the event
- Helping to set up the venue on the day
- Handling books and registration on the day
- Sending live updates on the day
Apologies if anyone’s name was missed out in the above list. A big thank you to all!
Miscellaneous
- The Point of Things: Book Swap on the Beach, Hazirah’s Thank-You Note (Facebook)
- Referring to a newspaper quote (actually a misquote!) that seemed humourous, the logo of Brunei Bookswap group changed after this post by Faiq (Facebook)