What to DO With All Your Old Books

[iLander]

I really like this book donation charity that sends books to underserved US markets and countries throughout the world. I am continuously amazed by libraries in Tennessee and Kentucky that have almost no books. As a book-loving child, I think of the kids in the area . . .

This is especially good this time of year, when the textbook company is offering me $15 for the $400+ worth of books I bought for my daughter.

Here's some info
"The International Book Project began in 1966, when founder Harriet Van Meter started shipping books from her basement to readers in need. Today the nonprofit sends about 200,000 books annually to developing nations in South America, Asia, and Africa and partners with groups such as Teach for America and Habitat for Humanity to reach underserved communities in the United States.

A finalist for the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, Van Meter passed away in 1997, but her organization continues to grow. To date, the International Book Project has donated more than 5.8 million books!"

Here's the link, you print out a mailing label, and take the box to the post office and ship it "library rate" which is pretty cheap; http://www.intlbookproject.org/inv-donbks.php

They take all kinds of books, but especially appreciate;
* Books for native speakers of Spanish and French
* English grammar
* Science texts (K-University)
* Math texts (K-University)
* Dictionaries and picture dictionaries
* Medical Texts
* Agriculture and Animal Science texts
* Vocational books (plumbing, electrical wiring, carpentry)
* Children's library books (picture story and chapter books)
* Encyclopedias newer than 1990

Thought I'd mention it.

 

[Circe]

Thank you, iLander! I've been culling my collection hardcore these last few years (uh, down to only ... 12 tall bookcases). I usually donate mine to Housing Works (a nonprofit that benefits AIDs research), but it's always good to have additional places, especially for the books that might not be big sellers here, but that might do a lot of good elsewhere. Looks like it's a trip to the PO for me ....

 

[iLander]

Yay, Circe!

You rock!

 

[makemepretty]

I donate mine to the public library. I've used it for years and noticed they hardly get new ones so my new release hardcovers are a treat! Plus, I got a Kindle so I've been donating tons the past year. Books have been my biggest splurge the last few years.

 

[iLander]

I donate mine to the public library. I've used it for years and noticed they hardly get new ones so my new release hardcovers are a treat! Plus, I got a Kindle so I've been donating tons the past year. Books have been my biggest splurge the last few years.

I do that too, but my library just tosses out textbooks. Plus my library just sells a lot of books at their sale, which is like selling ice to the Eskimos. I like thinking that at least some of my books are going far away, to people that really need them.

 

[rubybeth]

I donate mine to the public library. I've used it for years and noticed they hardly get new ones so my new release hardcovers are a treat! Plus, I got a Kindle so I've been donating tons the past year. Books have been my biggest splurge the last few years.

I do that too, but my library just tosses out textbooks. Plus my library just sells a lot of books at their sale, which is like selling ice to the Eskimos. I like thinking that at least some of my books are going far away, to people that really need them.

As someone who works in a library, I have to say that donating books to your library really does help! When we sell books, the profits go right back into the budget to buy newer books or to fund programs like the Summer Reading Program for children. We don't typically take old textbooks, but mass market paperbacks, Harlequins, etc. are all fine. And, if we get a popular title that has requests, we add it to our collection.

 

[princesss]

A friend of mine is an English teacher at a charter school that currently has no library. She gets first crack every time I go on a book purge, and then I donate the rest to my local library.

 

[ksinger]

I donate mine to the public library. I've used it for years and noticed they hardly get new ones so my new release hardcovers are a treat! Plus, I got a Kindle so I've been donating tons the past year. Books have been my biggest splurge the last few years.

I do that too, but my library just tosses out textbooks. Plus my library just sells a lot of books at their sale, which is like selling ice to the Eskimos. I like thinking that at least some of my books are going far away, to people that really need them.

As someone who works in a library, I have to say that donating books to your library really does help! When we sell books, the profits go right back into the budget to buy newer books or to fund programs like the Summer Reading Program for children. We don't typically take old textbooks, but mass market paperbacks, Harlequins, etc. are all fine. And, if we get a popular title that has requests, we add it to our collection.

And that is precisely why I've boycotted our metropolitan library system for the last 20 years. They keep 20 copies of the latest potboiler, but ask for an obscure title? Well, I don't know how they handle it now in the digital age, but back in the old card catalog era, (and this happened with depressing and infuraiating regularity, that resulted in said boycott) they would have a card for some obscure specific historical or reference text I wanted, and I'd be all excited, run up to the desk and they'd say, "Oh, sorry, but that book is no longer in our system." Translation: We a)can't keep our card catalog updated properly and are just taunting you with what we USED to have, and b) we just sold another actual scholarly work at our annual sale, so we could buy 40 copies of John Grisham's latest. I finally got fed up with it.

 

[rubybeth]

I donate mine to the public library. I've used it for years and noticed they hardly get new ones so my new release hardcovers are a treat! Plus, I got a Kindle so I've been donating tons the past year. Books have been my biggest splurge the last few years.

I do that too, but my library just tosses out textbooks. Plus my library just sells a lot of books at their sale, which is like selling ice to the Eskimos. I like thinking that at least some of my books are going far away, to people that really need them.

As someone who works in a library, I have to say that donating books to your library really does help! When we sell books, the profits go right back into the budget to buy newer books or to fund programs like the Summer Reading Program for children. We don't typically take old textbooks, but mass market paperbacks, Harlequins, etc. are all fine. And, if we get a popular title that has requests, we add it to our collection.

And that is precisely why I've boycotted our metropolitan library system for the last 20 years. They keep 20 copies of the latest potboiler, but ask for an obscure title? Well, I don't know how they handle it now in the digital age, but back in the old card catalog era, (and this happened with depressing and infuraiating regularity, that resulted in said boycott) they would have a card for some obscure specific historical or reference text I wanted, and I'd be all excited, run up to the desk and they'd say, "Oh, sorry, but that book is no longer in our system." Translation: We a)can't keep our card catalog updated properly and are just taunting you with what we USED to have, and b) we just sold another actual scholarly work at our annual sale, so we could buy 40 copies of John Grisham's latest. I finally got fed up with it.

That is a bummer, ksinger, but I have to say that libraries have different collection development practices, and my system is known for having breadth as well as depth. We collect based on demand, but also based on where there are 'holes' in the collection, and we very carefully weed out old items (generally because they are completely worn out, but we often replace them if we are able to, or because they have out of date information on a subject). We also don't buy 100 copies of the latest James Patterson, but have a book lease agreement with Baker & Taylor, so we buy maybe 15 copies for our 30+ branches, and then lease the rest so they can be returned to the publisher after the request list has dwindled. You might want to take a look at your library's online catalog--they may have shifted their philosophy on their collection in the last 20 years.

 

[iLander]

And that is precisely why I've boycotted our metropolitan library system for the last 20 years. They keep 20 copies of the latest potboiler, but ask for an obscure title? Well, I don't know how they handle it now in the digital age, but back in the old card catalog era, (and this happened with depressing and infuraiating regularity, that resulted in said boycott) they would have a card for some obscure specific historical or reference text I wanted, and I'd be all excited, run up to the desk and they'd say, "Oh, sorry, but that book is no longer in our system." Translation: We a)can't keep our card catalog updated properly and are just taunting you with what we USED to have, and b) we just sold another actual scholarly work at our annual sale, so we could buy 40 copies of John Grisham's latest. I finally got fed up with it.

I hear you, ksinger. I tend not to donate to our library either, because of a similar issue; they sell even great stuff in their sale room. The sale room is great for me, it's year round and I've found fabulous stuff for $2; first editions, antique books in excellent condition, etc. But where I live, there are a lot of well-read seniors with excellent libraries who donate their entire collections when they pass. Literally thousands of books a year go through the doors. One of my neighbors donated a wonderful book on arctic exploration, antique with illustrations and maps, and was shocked when she saw it on my shelf. She had thought it would go into the library collection, but they just tossed it in the sale room for $2. I offered to give it back to her, but she didn't want it anymore. I've purchased quite a bit from the sale room for $2, some of which I've sold for over $100 on ebay.

BTW; new pulp books are $5 in the sale room.

So, what's the point of me giving them more stuff? We are coming up on their annual book sale, where hundreds of books will be sold for $1 PER BAG. My local library is already drowning in books. So I choose to ship it away.