As part of it’s Chicago Ideas Week, a bunch of selected books was left on the the city trains for people to read while they commute. Called “Books on the L” people were able to read selected titles until they reached their destination. If the reader wants to chat about a particular book, they just need a twitter account and the hashtag #BooksOnTheL.
While the project only lasted a week, I imagine it would be easy enough to repeat anywhere. The major drawback with the Chicago program was that you were required to leave the books on the train, which depending on your commute, might mean you don’t have enough time to really get into the book. It would be nice to see a place on trains, airports, etc where a mini library could be set up based on the honor system. If you borrow a book bring it back, perhaps with a friend. With all the eBooks around, there is probably enough good paper books that could be donated, saving them from being landfill fodder.