FROM sharing bicycles to sharing cars, China’s sharing economy has now swept into the print industry. Alipay, an online payment platform under Alibaba, has launched express delivery of loaned books and sharing bookshelf services in five cities earlier this year, according to Chinanews.com.

Sanxiaokou Xinhua Bookstore in Hefei of Anhui Province, which declared itself the “first sharing bookstore in the world,” opened to the public in July this year. The reader first downloads an app and pays 99 yuan (US$15) online as a deposit, then he can borrow two books with a total value of less than 150 yuan by scanning the QR code. If the reader returns the books within 10 days, it will be free of charge; 1 yuan will be charged for each day after.

Apart from loaning books, the bookstore also has “reading scholarship,” with the registered customers receiving a 1-yuan reward each time they return books on schedule. If a reader reads 12 books in three months, he will be returned 8 percent of his deposit money as reward. During the first month of the bookstore’s operation, the number of books being borrowed and returned reached nearly 80,000.

In addition, banks are also involved in the sharing economy, with two branches of China Everbright Bank in Beijing opening book borrowing services this year. Users can borrow books after registering through the official WeChat account and paying the deposit.

“Whether through selling books, sharing books or some other way, as long as books are being read, they have achieved their values. Culture can be delivered in different forms,” said a woman surnamed Huang, who is a book-lover and likes the book-sharing concept. “Compared with borrowing books from libraries, the large bookstores update their shelves more frequently and are more professional, so readers can enjoy their favorite books more easily.”

“On the other hand, some books are quite expensive and readers might wish to only look up a few things without paying full price. Book-sharing systems can easily solve this problem,” Huang added.

However, there is still no specific definition of “book sharing,” and many problems need to be resolved in the actual operation.

Some experts claim that some alleged “book-sharing services”are just a gimmick.

San Shi, a writer, publisher and publishing marketing expert, thinks that, from the perspective of business mode, book sharing nowadays is no different from the book-borrowing services of small bookstores that already existed long before. “Many public libraries are free of charge for borrow books, whereas the ‘sharing bookstore’ has a deposit and fine system. ‘Sharing’ can’t be correctly defined here.”

“Some people claim that the ‘sharing bookstore’ is only a concept, just like previous ‘flowing bookstalls’ on public streets, which can also be labeled as ‘sharing’.”

For the “sharing bookstore,” the most important factor is to make sure that it is profitable. Huang said that a bookstore is not a library, so only by making sure its profitability can “book sharing” better develope. Huang suggested that more services should be added for “sharing bookstores,” such as customized book selection and improving the dining and environment of the bookstores.

San Shi believes that “book sharing” or “sharing bookstores” are a new business attempt in the book industry and the public should give it a chance. “There is still a long way to go.” (China Daily)