A growing local book swap has been made an Official BookCrossing Zone.

Oakham Book Swap, run for nearly four years by local book worm and mother, Lisa Batty, has recently welcomed BookCrossing Zone status, joining thousands of locations across the world recognised by the organisation.

Lisa has been one of nearly two-million BookCrossers for 20 years, making this an extra special achievement for the Oakham local, who runs Oakham Book Swap from her home.

Oakham Book Swap is a community-led project that hosts a pop-up book swap box on Tyne Road, Oakham. Residents are invited to pick up a new book or drop off unwanted books to share with other readers.

The swap contains fiction and non-fiction books for anyone aged 3 - 93, and is open to all. It opens when the weather permits and the team host regular 'Book Swap' events too.

A huge selection of fiction is available at Oakham Book Swap. Image credit: Nub News.

The Oakham Book Swap doesn't only offer a free service where locals can donate old books and pick up new ones, but supports 12 local and national charities each year, hosting monthly fundraisers and raffles where local book worms can donate and win prizes.

Now, the team have celebrated a wonderful boost to the organisation, recognising the dedication of organisers and local readers.

Lisa shared the good news on Facebook: "Woohoo! We're officially an Official BookCrossing Zone!!

"I've personally been a Bookcrossing member for almost 20 years... eeek! And I always register the books I read with bookcrossing.com - now that our little-getting-big book swap is an official zone it means we have a fancy icon on our listing on the BookCrossing website!

"What's great about BookCrossing is it shares our own book swap values of sharing books and encouraging reading, so nothing really changes other than you may find a few more books with the BookCrossing logo in our boxes - you don't need to be BookCrossing member to pick up a BookCrossing book, so just keep choosing the books you'd like to read and keep on swapping like we always do!

"If you'd like to become a BookCrossing member you can find out more here - and we'd love to see the books you register in our boxes."

Pick up free books across the world! Image credit: BookCrossing Zone / Oakham Book Swap.

Find out more about Oakham Book Swap on the BookCrossing website, or on the group's Facebook page.

It's the World's Library. It's a smart social networking site. It's a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers.

There are currently 1,988,824 BookCrossers and 14,379,831 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.

Enjoy non-fiction books, maps and much more at Oakham Book Swap. Image credit: Oakham Book Swap.