Why I Built book_buddy

I built book_buddy to promote UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by encouraging students to reuse and share textbooks instead of throwing them away.

A lot of textbooks are discarded after being used only once, while even more new books have to be printed every year to meet the needs of a growing student community. I wanted to create a simple way for students to pass on books they no longer need to students who do, reducing waste and unnecessary production while making textbooks more accessible to students who may not be able to afford them.

How BookBuddy Works

Upload a book — A student can add a book they no longer need, along with details such as its title, author, condition, ISBN, and other information.
Find a book — Other students can browse and search for books they need using different filters.
Request a book — Students can send a request for a book they are interested in.
Connect through chat — The students can communicate through the built-in chat to discuss the exchange and arrange the handoff.
Reuse instead of discard — The same book gets another life instead of ending up unused or being replaced by a newly printed copy.

Built With

I used a combination of web development, authentication, cloud storage, database, and real-time communication technologies:

Next.js and React.js - frontend and application framework
TailwindCSS and Lucide React - styling and icons
MongoDB - storing book and user-related data
Clerk - auth and user management
Cloudinary - storing and managing book images
Socket.IO - real-time messaging and chat
Vercel and Render - deployment and hosting

One of the biggest challenges was integrating the real-time chat system while keeping student privacy, security, and online safety in mind. I wanted students to be able to communicate easily without compromising the safety of the platform.

Testing

To test the idea with real users, I had 6 of my classmates upload their books to BookBuddy so that other students could browse and access them. This helped me test the complete process of uploading, finding, requesting, and communicating about a book.

What's Next?

My next step is to organize BookBuddy into school and college-based communities, so students can have their own trusted local network for sharing books. I also want to reach out to nearby schools and colleges and encourage them to use the platform.

The long-term goal is to make reusing and sharing resources a normal part of student life and help students develop an understanding of sustainability and resource conservation from an early stage.