Community Guidelines

Book Borough exists to bring people together through books.

We want this to be a place where readers can discover new books, share the ones they've loved, talk about what they're reading, and form meaningful connections with people in their communities.

That only works when everyone feels welcome and safe.

By participating in Book Borough, you agree to treat your reading neighbors with kindness, respect, and consideration. Hate, harassment, abuse, threats, or discriminatory behavior of any kind will not be tolerated.

These guidelines apply to everything you do on Book Borough, including your profile, Reading Notes, messages, book swaps, images, and interactions that begin through the Book Borough community.

Book Borough has zero tolerance for hateful or discriminatory behavior.

You may not attack, demean, threaten, exclude, or promote hatred toward another person or group based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other protected characteristics.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Slurs, hateful language, or degrading stereotypes
• Content that promotes hatred or discrimination
• Threats or celebration of violence against a person or group
• Symbols, images, or content used to promote hateful ideologies
• Targeting another user because of who they are
• Encouraging others to harass, exclude, or discriminate against someone

There is no place for hate on Book Borough.

Content may be removed and accounts engaging in hateful conduct may be suspended or permanently removed from the community.

Books inspire strong opinions. Disagreement is welcome. Abuse is not.

Do not harass, intimidate, bully, threaten, shame, stalk, or deliberately humiliate another person.

That includes repeated unwanted messages, sexual harassment, personal attacks, threats, attempts to intimidate someone into responding or meeting, or continuing to contact someone after they have made it clear they are not interested.

A user never owes you a response, a swap, a friendship, or an explanation.

If someone says no, stops responding, declines a swap, or asks you to stop contacting them, respect their boundary and move on.

We want Book Borough to be a place where people can passionately disagree about books.

Think a beloved bestseller is terrible? Say so.

Disagree completely with someone's interpretation? Talk about it.

Just keep the criticism focused on books and ideas—not the person you're talking to.

Debate is part of a vibrant reading community. Cruelty isn't.

Book Borough helps introduce readers. It does not entitle anyone to another person's time or attention.

Do not pressure another user to:

• Respond to your messages
• Accept a swap
• Share personal information
• Give you their phone number or social media accounts
• Meet you in person
• Change the location of a meetup
• Continue communicating after they've expressed discomfort or disinterest

Romantic or sexual advances that are unwanted, repeated, explicit, threatening, or harassing are not permitted.

Book Borough is a reading community. Treat the people you meet here as neighbors, not prospects.

A good swap depends on trust.

When offering a book, describe its condition accurately. Normal wear on a well-loved book is completely fine—just be upfront about it.

Don't knowingly misrepresent a book, offer books you don't have, use swaps to scam other users, demand unexpected payment, or intentionally arrange exchanges you don't intend to complete.

Plans change. If you can no longer make a swap, let the other person know.

Some Book Borough connections may lead to meeting in person to exchange books.

You are always free to decide whether you are comfortable meeting another user.

When meeting someone for the first time, we strongly encourage:

• Meeting in a public place such as a bookstore, library, café, or park
• Letting someone you trust know where you're going
• Avoiding sharing your home address
• Arranging your own transportation
• Leaving if a situation makes you uncomfortable

Never pressure another user to meet somewhere they aren't comfortable meeting.

Don't share another person's private information without their permission.

This includes addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, private messages, identifying information, or other information someone reasonably expected to remain private.

Never use Book Borough to stalk, track, expose, threaten, or locate another person.

Do not use Book Borough for fraud, scams, impersonation, spam, phishing, or other deceptive behavior.

Don't create fake identities, impersonate another person, manipulate users into sending money, or use the community primarily to advertise unrelated products or services.

Book Borough is for connecting through books—not exploiting people's trust.

Profiles, Reading Notes, messages, photos, and other content should contribute to a safe reading community.

Do not post or send content involving:

• Credible threats of violence
• Harassment or bullying
• Hateful or discriminatory content
• Non-consensual sexual content
• Sexual exploitation
• Graphic violence intended to shock or intimidate
• Another person's private information
• Scams or fraudulent activity
• Illegal activity
• Spam

We may remove content that violates these guidelines.

You don't have to handle harmful behavior yourself.

If another user is harassing you, threatening you, behaving hatefully, attempting to scam you, or otherwise violating these guidelines, please use Report User.

You can also Block someone to prevent further interaction.

Reports should be made in good faith. Do not use the reporting system to retaliate against someone because you disagree with their opinion about a book or because they declined to interact with you.

We may review reports and content when we become aware of potential violations.

Depending on the circumstances and severity, Book Borough may:

• Remove content
• Restrict access to certain features
• Issue a warning
• Temporarily suspend an account
• Permanently remove an account from Book Borough

Serious hate, threats, targeted harassment, violence, exploitation, or other severe abuse may result in immediate account removal.

We may also take action when behavior connected to Book Borough creates a credible safety risk to members of the community.

Book Borough is built around a simple idea: books that have already brought something meaningful into one person's life can create a connection with someone else.

Be curious. Be generous. Respect boundaries. Disagree thoughtfully. Pass along good books.

Most importantly, be a good neighbor.