Frustrated with her inability to make the scheduled used book sales, Anjali Menon ’10, with the help of her brother, Ramakrishnan, grade 10, established an online marketplace called Bookshelf for students to buy and sell used books from their fellow classmates.

While at Harker, “I was unable to attend used book sales because of time/date conflicts,” Anjali Menon said, “but we feel like such conflicts should not restrict us from trading our books within the Harker community, since our classmates are most likely to buy our books and have the books we need in the first place.”

Bookshelf relies solely on students’ active participation. All names are anonymous and buyer-seller contacts are done through Bookshelf-generated e-mails. Still in its early stages, Bookshelf is only available to Harker students, but the Menons aim eventually to open the website to all students. “If Bookshelf successfully gains more traction within the Harker community,” Anjali Menon said, “then we might consider including more students, but one school at a time.”