Brilliant.

If I lived in Sydney or another largeish city, I'd definitely have to think about furthering this movment: Choose What You Read aims to (1) promote reading and (2) reduce the amount of hideous paper waste generated by the tons of free newspapers given out every day to commuters. "Read a book instead," cry the CWYR Librarians, and I can only concur. But they don't just say it: they make it happen. They give second-hand books away, with the only requirement being that the recipient returns it on one of the monthly CWYR days, or at one of the CWYR drop boxes.

Don't get me wrong: I've read my share of free papers during my years of commuting. But I eventually realized that the only ones I ever enjoyed were the Onion and Washington DC's City Paper. (The ones I've seen in Sydney have been absolutely execrable.) So except for the few days every two or three years I'm back in DC, I tend not to take them. Wouldn't it be great if lots of people read books instead?

Here is the CWYR Facebook page, which actually has more information on it than their web site. They're in London, so if you're there on the first Monday of the month, look them up! And here's the site for a similar initiative in Paris (site is in French).