Dubai: A Dubai-based woman has launched an app-based paper books swap community that gives readers virtually free access to a large variety of paper books while connecting them with other book loving families.
Mother of two Bhavna Mishra told XPRESS her personal experience with supplying books to her sons had driven her to launch the community Browzly. “My sons, 10 and 11 years old, were keen readers from a very young age. So much so that despite buying books and borrowing them from libraries, we would run out of titles. So I decided to start a book swap community and developed an app which is now available at both the App store and Google Play.”
Equal opportunity
She said with school libraries now shut for the term and holidays in full swing, families can stay connected with Browzly as a nice reading and meeting up resource and help kids stay away from unlimited screen time. “The mission of Browzly is to provide equal literacy opportunity -- a book for every kid - a book that they love.”
With over 400 members already, the recently launched Browzly is a happening hub. “Once they’ve signed up on Browzly, users can list the books they would like to give away and request the ones they’d like to read. Every book a user gives to another user earns them a swap credit, called Swid. These Swids can be used to get any other book listed on Browzly. Once a book request is accepted, members with required Swids can connect and meet with each other to either pick the book themselves or arrange a courier within the app,” said Mishra. She said in addition to swapping books, readers can also create wish lists of the books they want to read and mark the books they have read. They can also write book reviews and invite their friends to swap with them.
Mishra said to encourage further reading, Browzly is running a Summer Reading Challenge until September 5. “Every time children read a book during the holidays they can log this on the Browzly app in their Read List. At the end of the holidays, three children will be able to win two private swimming lessons each from Hamilton Aquatics, the largest swim academy in the UAE. Each lesson is worth Dh400.” She said all children on board will get participation certificates.
