What boite-a-lire.com does

Boîte à lire (boite-a-lire.com) designs, manufactures, and supplies eco-designed physical micro-libraries — book exchange boxes — that hold approximately 100 books each and enable free community book sharing. The product range comprises four physical models (Cube, Traditionnelle, Maison, and Armoire), constructed primarily in pine wood with options for vinyl-sticker customization and corporate branding. The boxes are produced in France by parent company Recyclivre.com, France's first engaged online seller of second-hand books, which provides manufacturing capacity, second-hand book inventory expertise, and operational support to the initiative launched in 2016.

The business model is a one-time unit-sale motion directed at French professional buyers. Sales are conducted directly via quote requests, phone consultations, and brochure downloads on the company website, with tiered volume discounts adapted for local authorities (collectivités). Manufacturing lead time is approximately one month. The customer base spans municipalities and local authorities seeking to provide community reading infrastructure, and enterprises (energy, transportation, services, education, regional government) seeking employee and CSR-facing reading amenities; an individual/household segment is also surfaced on the website. Pricing is not publicly disclosed.

Boîte à lire operates as a service under RecycLivre (RCS Paris 508 610 466), headquartered at 7 rue de la Boule rouge, Paris, with web hosting provided by OVH in Roubaix. The project positions itself around circular economy, social cohesion, and cultural accessibility, with no external funding rounds, subsidiaries, or AI/digital product components disclosed. The website also maintains a community-facing locator and registry of deployed Boîte à Lire units across French communes.

Name

boite-a-lire.com

Legal name

Boite-a-lire.com

Website

https://boite-a-lire.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Boîte à lire designs and supplies eco-designed micro-libraries (book exchange boxes holding ~100 books each) to French municipalities, enterprises, and individuals, manufactured in France by parent company Recyclivre since 2016.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Sale of Boîte à Lire units: One-time sale of eco-designed micro-library boxes to municipalities, businesses, and organizations. Pricing is tiered with volume discounts for local authorities. Manufacturing lead time is approximately 1 month.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Boîte à lire designs, manufactures, and sells eco-designed micro-library boxes (book exchange units) holding approximately 100 books each, sold to municipalities, businesses, and organizations across France. The company offers four product variants (Cube, Traditionnelle, Maison, Armoire) with customization options including corporate branding via vinyl stickers, with manufacturing handled by parent company RecycLivre.

Product overview

Boite à Lire is a unified product portfolio consisting of four micro-library models (Cube, Traditionnelle, Maison, and Armoire) offered by Recyclivre.com since 2016. These eco-designed physical book exchange units provide free book lending services, enabling circular economy for books and fostering social connection and cultural access across European municipalities and businesses. The products are sold to professionals (municipalities, companies) with customization options including logo placement and vinyl sticker personalization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Boîte à Lire (Cube) Compact pine wood micro-library unit measuring 43.5 cm x 30 cm x 114 cm, designed for free community book exchange in public or corporate spaces. Holds approximately 25% of the standard book capacity.
• Boîte à Lire (Traditionnelle) Traditional pine wood micro-library model measuring 54 cm x 35 cm x 58 cm, with title in dibond anti-UV Plexiglass. Provides free book lending for community or employee use.
• Boîte à Lire (Maison) House-shaped micro-library model measuring 44 cm x 44 cm x 84 cm, designed as an eco-designed free book exchange unit for public or corporate spaces.
• Boîte à Lire (Armoire) Larger wardrobe-style micro-library unit measuring 150 cm tall, designed for higher-capacity free community book exchange in public or corporate environments.

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Recyclivre.comcoreOthersRecyclivre.com is the parent company and creator of the Boîte à lire project. As the first committed French online seller of second-hand books, Recyclivre provides manufacturing, book inventory expertise, and operational support for the Boîte à Lire initiative. The project was developed 'avec amour' (with love) by the Recyclivre team.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Little Free Library: US-headquartered nonprofit that coordinates and promotes the global movement of community book exchange boxes (micro-libraries). Operates the same core product concept as Boîte à lire - small physical structures enabling free community book sharing - making it the most directly comparable peer worldwide.
• BookCrossing: Global online community platform that enables free book sharing by letting users 'release' books for others to find and read. Addresses the same mission of free community book exchange but without the physical infrastructure component, making it a complementary rather than identical peer.

Others

• RecycLivre: Parent company of Boîte à lire and France's first committed online seller of second-hand books. Provides manufacturing, distribution, and book inventory to Boîte à lire. Different primary business (online book retail) but deeply intertwined operationally and strategically.
• Lire et Faire Lire: French nonprofit promoting intergenerational reading programs by mobilizing volunteer readers. Shares Boîte à lire's mission of expanding reading access and book sharing in communities, but operates volunteer-based reading sessions rather than physical book-sharing infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Bibliothèques Sans Frontières: French nonprofit focused on facilitating access to books and reading for underserved populations, including through mobile libraries and community reading initiatives. Highly comparable mission (cultural access, book sharing) but operates as a humanitarian organization rather than a product company.

Regional players

• Street Library Australia: Australian nonprofit replicating the Little Free Library / community book box model at scale across Australia. Directly comparable product offering (small physical book exchange boxes) with a similar community and B2B installation focus, but operates in a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• Momox: Germany-headquartered large-scale second-hand book and media buyer/reseller operating across Europe. Adjacent to the circular-economy mission of Boîte à lire via its parent RecycLivre, but operates at much greater scale and with a fundamentally different online resale business model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about boite-a-lire.com