I mean it’s bad juju to throw books in the trash right? What’s the proper way to get rid of them? (with the least amount of effort)
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fire
Was about to say. Burn them. They make great fire starter. Arguably one of the densest and best. I’d love the thought as an author to have my words burned away for someone’s enjoyment too.
Take them to a used bookstore.
I work with librarians and I have heard them say that sometimes an old worn out book is just a bunch of paper. Would you keep a bunch of paper lying around? Librarians throw out a lot of books.
Throwing them into a big box marked “FREE” and putting that outside on the curb is probably the least amount of effort.
Other than that, donating them, selling them to a second hand bookstore, or finding a local Little Free Library and adding to their collection is your best bet.
if they are of decent quality a snd hand book store might take them
Depends where you are; in the UK I take them to charity shops or give them to people who would appreciate them (just a few to each person or it gets a bit overwhelming). You can also leave them out on the street in a small box with ‘free’ on the side. There are some places with free ‘library’-type places that you can leave them in, or put them in cafes/leave on trains.
I used to volunteer in Oxfam Books and it’s honestly one of the best things you can do unless you do know people who want the books obviously.
Everything is inspected and if for whatever it’s not fit to be resold (big coffee stains, or missing pages etc) it’s recycled. And then any profits go to help people in need. And we came across some genuinely rare things a few times. An edition of Shakespeare which was worth £400 or so from the 1700s was probably the most impressive - this like that get sold online.
Obviously if there’s a different charity which means something more to you even better - I honestly think it’s the best thing to do with old books these days
I don’t have a direct answer, but I will say be careful about giving them to Goodwill or what-have-you, or at least check first. I donated a mound of great contemporary books and the guy receiving them said they throw out anything that has marks on the page side or any wear on the cover.
Not to say all thrift shops toss them, but some do.
Edit: Look for local “free libraries”! Some cities will have random little boxes put up around neighbourhoods, and those won’t get scrapped.
Although i think it’s great that secondhand places are concerned about the condition of items, i feel like it’s gotten a bit ridiculous.
I’ve gotten brand new things straight from the manufacturer that were in poorer conditon than some of the things they’ve turned down. And I’m not really comfortable using craigslist or facebook marketplace or the like so i end up feelling bad about tossing perfectly fine stuff.
Sounds like they are pickier than a Peruvian money changer.
I think a lot of the secondhand places have problems in both directions. On one hand, it’s as you say. On the other hand, I’ve seen places that charge more than new prices for some things. One secondhand store I visited was in the same parking lot as a walmart. I looked at the t-shirts they had for sale (not fancy ones or anything) and they cost more than the brand new ones at the walmart.
Goodwill is also … objectionable, to say the least. And many alternatives fund insidious “missionary” work or anti-choice women’s housing. Check your charities closely to make sure they align with your values, whatever they may be.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_Industries
https://socialistworker.org/2017/09/25/why-goodwill-goes-bad
https://www.cracked.com/article_33357_15-impressively-evil-things-goodwill-has-done.html
Check with your local library or schools to see if they accept book donations. If not, there are probably a few secondhand bookstores near you that will buy some of them from you.
This is the best way in my experience; I was able to get rid of over 20 filing boxes of books this way while helping my folks downsize their collection. It’s a small way to support your local library system, and I’ve had some excellent finds at thrift book stores/library sales over the years so it’s nice to contribute to that as well
Please check first and accept their answer if it’s a no! Do not dump your 1991 NatGeos without asking. Love, Librarians
Especially Nat Geos. Those things are valuable.
Really? I never knew - are people starting to warm up on collecting Natgeos or has this been a thing around your neck of the woods/world for a while?
I believe that may be sarcasm.
That’d be right, lol - thanks for the help parsing the context, I really did just assume it was earnest
Donate to library or school if in decent condition. Recycle if not.
I worked for a library. Most books we got donated, even if they were in good condition would just get pitched. We just had no need for them.
I think that’s dependent on the library. The few libraries I’m familiar with are always happy to accept donated books and put them in circulation (as long as they’re in good condition).
It probably also depends on the book. I have tons of outdated books on obscure topics within engineering, science, and computing. I doubt anyone would check out my 1995 book on the Vi text editor from a library. Although, if I’m lucky, perhaps it could be a collectors item some day. In reality, I’m probably going to just say “thank you for helping me so many years ago” and respectfully recycle the book.
That’s probably true, I would expect libraries not be very interested in obsolete technical books.
However, I image many of the books people have don’t match that description. And in my experience libraries (especially school libraries) are happy to take them.
I guess the libraries and schools can make the decision and throw out things they don’t find useful.
In Jewish tradition, the answer is burial.
Personally, I think immolation – burning – is an elegant way of returning something to the world without taking space or requiring much effort. I know people have an aversion to burning books, bit I think the difference is similar to that difference between burying a loved one after they pass and burying an enemy alive.
If your city offers industrial composting, I’d compost your books.
Lastly, you can do any of these, including throwing books in the trash with a statement of gratitude. Mari Kondo advises that we thank or belongings for their service and then throw them in the trash.
None of those seem like respectful uses of books.
Yeah when I burned Ethan Frome it was specifically to be disrespectful
Since these are inanimate objects that are incapable of comprehending respect or disrespect by themselves, this meaning is imposed solely by the humans involved in this process.
A common analogous situation is the burning of American flags. Lots of Americans freak out over it, the official “Flag Code” says burning is actually the respectful way to dispose of them, and most non-Americans just roll their eyes over the whole kerfuffle.
That said, I have a bunch of books I’d like to get rid of and that I know there’d be no demand for and I’ve got them stashed away because I know I’m going to have soooo much trouble actually physically dropping them into the recycler. Humans are irrational and superstitious, even when we realize that we’re irrational and superstitious.
In our country we have these peddlers who buy papers, books, metal items for cheap and then they resell them to recycle then ultimately or for other uses.
Some libraries take book donations (either for adding to the collection, or for book sales), little free libraries (you can find local ones here), ‘Friends of the Library’ will sell them and donate the proceeds to the library, second hand book shops, thrift shops, charity shops, and of course there’s always throwing them out.
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I like to cite my sources :)
If they’re in good condition, selling them to a used bookstore or donating them to a library are good ideas.
Here in Toronto we have free little libraries. I would just put them in there.
They have them in Vancouver too. I love the idea of this being more widespread!
Leave them on the table in a coffee shop, one or two at a time.
