Amicus EX Libris

A pocket-sized edition of collective organization, this cozy event provides a simple strategy for sharing literature of all shapes and sizes. Amicus ex Libris is like a clothing swap, but for books. An afternoon or an evening is all that’s needed to host an event that can help initiate, foster, or reinforce relationships and networks within a community. The organizational model is predicated on an equal exchange. Each participant arrives and leaves with the same number of books. This means that there is no dumping of unwanted tomes, while at the same time highlighting the notion that no idea or perspective ought to be left behind.

By emphasizing an equal exchange, this interactive experience provides tangible value for each participant. By sharing books, physical representations of knowledge and experience, the event also demonstrates the value that each participant’s perspective contributes to the greater whole. Nothing confirms a book’s worth more than someone else picking it up.

The process itself generates connections of similar interests, and provides instant fodder for conversations among the trading participants. It also prompts a market place dynamic, where both those engaged in a trade, and those observing, weigh in on the merits of the trade, in encouraging and discouraging ways. In this space, communicable value becomes currency via this simple yet multifaceted event.