You found something
This book didn't get here by accident.
Somebody read it, then gave it away on purpose, one hop in an open social experiment in how far a stranger's trust can carry a book. You're the next hop, whether you keep reading or hand it straight on. Checking it in takes about twenty seconds. No account, no app, nothing to sign up for.
QR wouldn't scan? The eight characters printed under it are the code, type them below.
Tapped an NFC tag and nothing happened? Same code, same box, it's printed on the plate too.
Found handwriting instead of a plate? Whatever's written after the last slash of the link is the code.
What happens next: you'll mark on a map roughly where you found it, say a word about it if you feel like it, and that's it, the book's page updates and you can pass it straight on to whoever's next.
No code at all, just a book with a QR you can't read? Browse the books, you might spot the cover. Curious what this whole thing is before you commit to anything? Read the guide.
Want to see more than just this one journey? @booksrelay follows the whole experiment, not one book at a time.