PaperbackSwap.com is a place to, you know, swap books. The idea is pretty swell.

For every book you send to a member, you get a credit. For every credit you can request a book from someone else. And for signing up, you get three credits just to get you started. (And more than likely to seed the points system, since some folks will invariably have taste so bizarre that no one will want to order their books.)

Not a bad deal, on the whole. The site estimates that it costs around $1.42 to ship a book, and if you’re lucky enough to have someone request multiple titles from your library, you’ll save by shipping in bulk. It’s probably some trouble to continually keep your library up to date, but for thrifty, voracious readers who live in a city with a poor library system, it doesn’t look too shabby.

We wonder if this could be somehow integrated into Delicious Library. (Not that we own that software, but that would be hot.) (Thanks, Matt!)

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