Once upon a time, a book left at a park — perhaps near a pond — in Fairfax, Va., went on a road trip across the United States where it settled for a bit in the land of red sandstone cliffs.

A mother and her 10-year-old child found the book and adopted it. The mother was drawn to the book — the subject was Turkey in the 1990s, and she had spent time there. The book traveled with the family through California, Wyoming and then to Zion National Park in Utah, where believe it or not the former owner had traced its whereabouts.

How was this possible? Well, it’s called BookCrossing, and more than 7 million books are currently traveling throughout 137 countries, delighting readers of all ages.

Sound crazy? Maybe even a little magical and wondrous? It kind of is just that.

Kate McDevitt, the owner of the book about Turkey and a self-described book lover, said she first learned about BookCrossing on NPR when she was a student at Virginia Tech. McDevitt had some books she was willing to part with, signed up and took the plunge.

“You go on the BookCrossing website and register a book. Every book is assigned a unique number … put the unique number inside front cover,” McDevitt said.

“I left a book at a random bench at a playground,” she went on, adding that she tracked the book on BookCroosing’s website and discovered the book went to France.

BookCrossing members — known as BookCrossers — receive a unique BookCrossing ID (BCID) for each book registered. Members receive free online archival and book tracking and can download free labels, order labels from the site’s bookplate collections or create a custom label, which designates the book as a “very special book … traveling around the world making new friends.”

When a BookCrossing book is found, the new “friend” can go to the website and enter the BCID number to discover the book’s journey, a list of previous owners and add journal entries. The book can be followed and journaled forever, according to the company’s website.

McDevitt said it’s like telling someone, “If you find this book, it’s yours.”

“Makes their day brighter, like a random act of kindness. It’s a lot of fun,” she added.

The local BookCrossing group (for the District, Maryland and Virginia) has more than 600 members on its mailing list, according to McDevitt. The group meets about once a month.

“We’re just a group that really loves reading. We all really love the hobby and sharing books with the world,” she said.

“Reading is usually such a solitary hobby. In BookCrossing we’re able to journal the books, leave them places and see what other people think about them, and talk about them in local meetups.”

Selected to host the 10th anniversary BookCrossing Convention from April 15 to 17, McDevitt, a member of the convention committee, said the convention hasn’t been in the United States for four years, and that it may never be so nearby again.

“[It’s] a once in a lifetime chance, and it’s a special anniversary as well,” she said. “We’ll have convention attendees coming from all over the world. And a trip to the Kensington Day of the Book Festival is one of the activities attendees will be able to choose.”

BookCrossing will be giving away free books at the upcoming International Day of the Book Festival in Old Town Kensington on April 17 to instill “a love of books with every attendee,” McDevitt said. 

A BookCrossing devotee for nearly a decade, McDevitt noted the site’s unique ability to connect people through a love of books and reading.

“We invite complete strangers into our lives through the books that we leave places.”