FAQ
What is Books Beyond Shelves (BBS)?
It is a platform that enables you to lend and borrow books for your children, from yourBBS community of like-minded families. You will need a minimum of 10 books to create your bookshelf and start borrowing. This is to ensure there are plenty of books in the community for everyone to borrow and enjoy.
How do I prepare the books to lend to others?
BBS will send you stickers in your welcome kit. Please put a sticker on each of the books that you plan to upload in your BBS bookshelf. This will also help you to distinguish BBS books from your other books at home.
Can I borrow books from multiple people/bookshelves at the same time?
You may only borrow from one person/bookshelf at this time. We are working on upgrades.
How many books can I borrow at one time?
You have to borrow 5 books each time for up to 3 weeks. You can borrow another 5 books books after you have read and marked the previous books as available (for others to borrow).
How do I search for my friend or a book once I’m on the website?
Each page on the website has a Search bar on the top. You can search for a friend’s bookshelf with his/her name. You can also search for a book by its name or author in the Search bar, or use the filters in the advanced search page like recommended age, language, rating.
How and when will my borrowed books be delivered to me?
Once you borrow the books, BBS will send a notification to your registered email address/phone to coordinate a time for pickup/delivery of books. Your books will be personally delivered by the BBS team. Please allow 2-3 days after your borrow request is completed for the books to be delivered.
What happens when someone borrows books from me/my bookshelf?
BBS will contact you to keep the books ready in the BBS bag for pickup (in 2-3 days after confirmation of order).
What if a book I borrowed gets damaged?
Accidents happen. Incase of a damaged book, please ‘remove’ the book from your bookshelf and contact BBS. Any damaged books will be taken out of the BBS circulation. We kindly request for any books you remove, you add another to your bookshelf.
Does Books Beyond Shelves have an app?
We don’t have an app yet, but you can create an icon on your smartphone screen by clicking on ‘Add to home screen’. The phone icon will be customized to your digital screen.
What personal information do I need to share to be a BBS member?
You need to share your name, mailing address, email address, phone number. This will help us to notify you of delivery and pick up of books. We take privacy very seriously. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information.
Is there a membership fee?
You can enjoy the platform for free at the moment. We will notify you in advance of any upcoming changes to your account.