The global phenomenon that is BookCrossing is "the act of releasing books into the wild and then following their journeys and the lives they touch", according to its website, BookCrossing.com.

It is "a labour of love that was conceived and is maintained by Humankind Systems Inc", a US software and Internet development company. It started in 2001 and there are now about 535,000 BookCrossers worldwide. It is free and about 300 join it each day. "BookCrossers register their books at the website so that each has its own BookCrossing identity number which is used to tag or label the book inside the cover" the website explains. People who "catch" a wild book follow instructions on the label to go to the BookCrossing website. There they can find out where the book has been and make a new journal entry so that other BookCrossers know "it's in good hands".

When they have read the book they release it again by leaving it in a public place. If someone else finds it and registers it they receive an e-mail notifying them of its whereabouts. They can print out labels giving the BookCrossing contact details. There is an enthusiastic band of BookCrossing members in Dublin and a fledging group in Cork. There are regular meetings and annual days out and some members travel together to BookCrossing conventions abroad.

See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bookcrossingie/