New Greek Bookukoo app Helps To Trade Books!

A new app nicknamed Bookukoo was recently developed in Greece and set up to help book lovers to find as well as "trade" books so that they can renew their libraries and find new reading material without spending a ton of money on new books.

The software engineer and Harvard graduate Panagiotis Kouretas, who designed this innovative app recently spoke to the state news agency ANA-MPA about his Bookukoo, claiming that he was first inspired to develop the app while doing his national military service.

     "Cooped up in a room several hours a day, I did a lot of reading. After finishing a book, though I was willing to share it with others, I found that there was no way. Ideally, I was looking for an application that was easy to use, that I could use through my mobile phone, which would take into account my location and allow me to come into contact only with individuals within the army camp. Because there was no such tool to covery these needs I decided to make my own," he said.

According to Kouretas, Bookukoo was similar in concept to other apps, such as bookcrossing, paperback swap and others, but each of these had some drawback, so he proceeded to design Bookukoo. He said his app was ideal for three major categories of readers - students, who could trade no-longer needed text books and study aids for books that they wanted, classic 'bookworms' constantly looking for new reading material and families with children, who could find a new home for books their children had outgrown.

Kouretas said that 1,000 people had already downloaded his application and more than 100 had created their 'lending library' with more than 700 books currently available in various areas of Greece and also with Greeks in Belgium, Istanbul and London.