The Book Swap at Matej Bel University

Translation: Laura Trnavská

Author: Viktória Slušníková

Have you ever wondered where all the lonely, old, unwanted books disappear to? Where do the dust-covered books that take up space on the bookshelf go — the ones beaten up with stains, torn pages and no cover, or the ones their owners never finished reading? They either end up in antiquarian bookshops barely surviving in the modern world glowing under blue light — or worse, in a basement at the bottom of a box, attacked by mice and rats, or left near the dustbin with words and colour fading as they’re burned by the sun, or their soaked pages falling apart, crying black ink tears after heavy rain.

Luckily, a few of those abandoned books have been rescued and taken home by visitors of The Book Swap at the Faculty of Arts at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. Fiction and non-fiction books were wrong to think that not a single soul would ever pick them up again. Those who knew about The Book Swap —people passing by, or those who got lost in the faculty halls on their way to a study room or a coffee break —could drop off an unwanted book and take another one home, where it would be cared for and given a proper bookmark. What better way is there to show off your love for books and admit to the world you’re a reader than shouting out your favourite book from the rooftops? All you had to do was grab a marker, write the book’s name on a white poster, and you’re done. Suddenly, people from all over town knew you were a booklover. The Book Swap has even reached people — no kidding —outside of Banská Bystrica. The books have travelled across Slovakia, reaching towns like Bratislava, Nitra or Prešov. What does that mean? Probably that we’ve come full circle, right back to where it all started — with a single idea that brought people together. Before that, they would just pass by each other in the hallway. One idea connected people from the most distant and diverse corners of Slovakia.

We would like to thank organiser Viktória Slušníková and volunteers Bettina Miliczká, Annamária Kapičáková, and Ján Kovalčík for making The Book Swap such a success!