Bookstore expands variety of publications available to rent

Subway passengers will be able to borrow more varieties of books and magazines from bookstores at metro stations, local media reported Thursday.

The service serves to recycle used publications and aims to encourage passengers to read, said Zou Shuxian, an employee with Shanghai Aizhi Bookstore, which offers the service.

The bookstore offers to rent publications on a day-to-day basis at 16 stations on metro Line 2, allowing customers to borrow a book or magazine for 1 yuan ($0.16) a day, according to a report in the Youth Daily.

The service was inspired by a program developed by the bookstore and the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Pudong New Area. The service was first expanded to metro stations in July. Magazines and books used to only come from the bookstore's stock. Now the bookstore has expanded its source of books.

Readers can donate books for which they receive an online service card for a language learning website as a reward. More than 10 enterprises have helped to donate books, Zou told the Global Times.

Passengers can use the service after they add Aizhi Bookstore as a contact on the mobile messaging app WeChat. No deposit and personal information is required, which makes some people worry that books won't be returned.

Some of the publications have not been returned, Zou said. At the Pudong International Airport Station, 30 percent of books have gone missing.

The station has the highest loss rate among participating bookstores, the Youth Daily reported.