Surplus books take a new ride on public transport system

A reading service in the UK and the US aimed at turning commuters into bookworms is hitting New Zealand trains and buses.

Auckland digital marketer Jade-Ceres Munoz is hoping to share her love of books with commuters and left her first book on a platform at Britomart last week.

The aim of Books on the Bus NZ is for books to be left on public transport throughout Auckland and people to read the book before putting it back on any public train, bus or ferry.

A similar initiative in the UK called Books on the Underground was launched in 2012 and has gained traction in London after being endorsed by actress Emma Watson. The founder Hollie Belton has also launched a similar initiative in New York.

Munoz, who studied literature at university, said she had been given some good advice from the UK initiative Books on the Underground about how to set up the service in NZ.

Books on the Bus has been donated books by publishers to launch the initiative and also welcomed any type of second-hand books.

There was a concern the books could be thrown away or put in lost property, so Munoz had stickers to put on them so people knew they were part of the Books on the Bus collection.

Messages are being left inside books left on the transport system to tell people about Books on the Bus. Photo / Supplied

People with surplus books to donate could either contact Books on the Bus via its Facebook page to organise collection or stickers. They could also just write a note saying it was part of the initiative and then leave it on a form of public transport.

The self-confessed book lover did not think the popularity of eBook readers such as Kindles would jeopardise the service.

"I think there is still a big market out there for people who still appreciate books in their physical form ... Having a physical book and reading it and really smelling the old book is a different experience, especially for me, so that's really what I wanted to impart to everyone taking part in the programme."

An Auckland Transport spokesman said it had not been approached directly by the organisers of Books on the Bus, but were aware of some books going out and welcomed discussions.

"It's fantastic to encourage sharing books and public transport is a great space for people from across the entire city to come together and share ideas and share knowledge."

The aim is for 150 books to be added to the service each month.

Books on the Bus officially launches today.