BookNest: A Community Book Exchange App

ABSTRACT

The growing accumulation of unused physical books in households, combined with limited access to affordable reading resources, highlights the need for organized, community-oriented sharing solutions. While digital media consumption continues to increase, physical books remain highly valued by readers due to factors such as ease of use, reduced eye strain, and long-term usability [1], [2]. Existing book exchange practices are largely informal and are commonly managed through social media groups or personal networks, which lack systematic organization, user verification, and efficient discovery mechanisms, making them unsuitable for sustained community engagement [6].

This paper introduces BookNest, an Android-based mobile application designed to support structured, locality-focused exchange of physical books within communities. Based on sharing-economy principles that emphasize sustainability, affordability, and resource reuse [3], the application incorporates essential features including user authentication, book listing, geolocation-based discovery, borrowing workflows, review and rating systems, and secure data handling. By leveraging mobile technologies, BookNest promotes transparency and trust among users, enabling more reliable and inclusive peer-to-peer exchange interactions [4], [7].

The system is implemented using Firebase services for authentication, cloud storage, real-time database management, and notifications, along with Android Jetpack components to ensure a scalable and maintainable architecture. Through systematic design, development, and evaluation, the project demonstrates how community-focused digital platforms can enhance access to reading materials, encourage sustainable practices, and strengthen social connectivity. The findings contribute to ongoing research on mobile peer-to-peer exchange systems and present a scalable foundation for future community-based resource-sharing applications.

Keywords- Book exchange, community sharing, mobile application, peer-to-peer systems, Android development, Firebase, resource sustainability, digital communities, software architecture.