Why Book Corners won't sync contributions back to OpenStreetMap

A feature that sounded obviously good When I introduced Book Corners, I explained that much of its initial data came from OpenStreetMap. OSM gave the project a useful starting point, with thousands of public bookcases already mapped around the world. Book Corners also accepts new libraries directly from its users. People can submit a location and a photo, and the contribution becomes public after moderation. It seemed only fair that, when one of those submissions was missing from OSM, Book Corners should be able to contribute it back. The idea was not to create an uncontrolled background synchronisation process. The workflow I had in mind was deliberately cautious: The person submitting the library would explicitly allow the contribution. An administrator would review the library first. Book Corners would search OSM for possible duplicates. The administrator would preview the exact data being sent. Nothing would be written until the administrator confirmed it. From a…