Welcome.

If you are holding one of these logs, you are in the right place. Add your mark, color in the stars, and send the book on its way. When it fills up, tell us the route it took. The rest of this page is for the curious.

A small cream booklet titled Ex Libris Omnium, seated in a library-style pocket inside the front cover of an old green clothbound book. — The log rides in a pocket inside the cover.

What it is

Ex Libris Omnium is a small paper booklet that lives in a library-style pocket inside the cover of a book, and travels with it. Think of it as a passport for your book. Each reader who passes it along leaves their initials, a town, the dates they had it, a star rating, and a few words.

Books travel farther than we ever know. This one keeps a record.

Over time the book collects a travel log: where it has been, who has loved it, and what they thought. Think of an old library checkout card, for a book's second, third, tenth life.

The name is a turn on the bookplate. Ex libris is Latin for "from the books of," the words printed above an owner's name. Ex libris omnium says it the other way around: from the books of everyone.

How it works

1
Make your mark.Initials, a town, and the dates you had the book.
2
Rate it.Color in the stars. Add a few words if you like.
3
Send it on.To a friend, a neighbor, a book exchange.

Please keep the log with the book. Its next chapter belongs to someone else.

Inside

Eight small pages, stapled: instructions, twelve places to sign in, a page for a favorite line from the book, and a page of what to read next. Ink it, pencil it, squeeze in one more word. Every log ends up different.

The open booklet: instructions on the left, and a page of log entries on the right with three readers' handwritten initials, towns, dates, star ratings and notes. — Initials, a town, dates, stars, and a few words. Entries shown are examples.

Two inside pages: a page for a favorite sentence or quote from the book, filled in by hand, and a page of recommended titles beneath a line of Emily Dickinson. — A favorite line from the book, and what to read next.

The back and front covers of the booklet side by side: the front titled Ex Libris Omnium, a book's log, with a book icon; the back with a small QR code and credit line. — Front and back. The small code on the back leads here.

Where it goes

Any book that is about to change hands: a paperback passed between friends, a book club copy, a shelf at a neighborhood book exchange, a gift. We are planning a small first run.

A log tucked inside a book resting on a weathered neighborhood book-exchange box in a garden. — At home in a neighborhood book exchange.

Trace its path

Where has your book been?

Every entry in a log has a place. Read the Location column from first to last and you have the book's route.

Boston→Somerville→New York→Seattle→Tokyo

Took one on a trip and left it on a shelf somewhere new? We especially want to hear that. One day we will draw these routes on a map.

Stay in touch

Be the first to know when they are ready.

We will send one email when the first Ex Libris Omnium logs are available, and now and then an update or a story from the road. No spam, and you can leave any time.