Sigh.
It was true, shelves overflowed and stacks balanced in corners and closets. Had those squirrelled away in dressers and kitchen cupboards been discovered?
But I love books! I know that many of you do too, so I turn to you….
What to do if you can’t keep books?
Have a cup of coffee (or tea) and brace yourself. When you’re fortified, look at the many options for re-homing.
1. Have a book sale
Put them out on your front lawn, the sidewalk, the community centre rummage sale, a church bazaar, or get a table at a flea market.
If you research or advertise in advance, others may join you and you can enjoy hosting a multi-seller book bonanza!
2. Go online
Place ads online: eBay; kijiji; list4all; Craigslist; and, online editions of newspapers are all effective for matching buyers and sellers.
Trading and/or bartering can get good results too.
3. Used bookstores
Sadly, used bookstores seem to be going the way of the independent bookstore. If you can find one in your area, they’ll buy your books or trade for credit.
4. Donate
Libraries, schools, thrift shops, hospitals, churches, shelters and community centres are usually great places to donate books. They’ll add them to their own shelves or sell them to raise funds for their programs.
I’ve also been known to donate to the Charity of the Back Alley. Books usually disappear within minutes.
5. Repurpose
Books can be used to create artwork, such as collages, murals, wallpaper and 3-D sculpture.
The thought of defacing or deconstructing a book makes me cringe a little, but art is a universal good.
6. Recycle
If books are in unreadable or unusable condition they can be recycled for the greater good.
Here’s the deal
Sigh. Okay. For every book I bring in, another will find its way out.
Now, about that patch cord I tripped over this morning….
I always take mine to a second hand shop… they are popular here ad books, new books are so expensive. There I trade or get a credit to buy more
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Hi Bulldog, Second hand shops are fabulous treasure troves! Your trade-ins make other customers very happy 🙂
It’s also great when they get to know their regulars; they can set books aside and search out rarities and such.
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When my father-in-law passed, we ended up with his ‘library’ of books. A few hundred (multiple copies of many of them) books that my wife ended up inviting people over to take what they wanted. After that was done, she ended up donating the rest. The good ones were obviously kept back and are part of our collection, but after having gone through such an ordeal, her solution should a situation like that happen again… a bon fire.
I told her she couldn’t do that because.. you know.. Nazi’s and Farenheit 451… but.. she is just set in her head that she won’t go through that again.
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*Gasp* fire?? Well, I also have to laugh because I can understand. Sometimes a collection can grow to unmanageable proportions and it’s especially challenging if it’s not your own.
If a similar situation ever occurs again, many charities are able to pick up donations. Call around and you’ll find many that would be happy to send a truck. You just have to sit back and watch them carry it all away.
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I have mentioned that to her. I believe the joy that would be lost at watching it burn is what stops her from wanting to call them. I do believe she might be a pyromaniac in hiding. (this is satirical, of course)
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Haha oh no! 🙂 For enquiring minds, there is a proper method to burning books. This art and science can be adapted from “How to Burn Books” (Pelican Books). (Satire understood, of course, R..)
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When we moved to a smaller place, hundreds of books found their way to the VVA. The Vets have a convenient pick-up system and we had so many deliveries for other items it seemed logical. This was after selling some in a book sale ( not too successful) and trying to sell to a used bookstore. A dollar credit for each book. Ahem. We are trying to downsize. Not add more books so a credit does us no good. That was why eventually donating the books to be sold to support the Vietnam Veterans was ultimately the best choice. And the rest are in storage. Just enough books for a year and then in the summer 2015, we’ll regroup and rotate a new set of books.
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Thank you for the great suggestions, Andrew!
Here’s information about the VVA’s “Pick Up” Donation Program. You can even schedule a pick up online. VVA provides tax deduction receipts as well.
I also like your idea of rotating books through storage. I hadn’t thought of that before, but I can see how it would work very well. Thanks 🙂
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I just want more bookshelves. I seldom sell or donate books, but often they do get borrowed and loved beyond the time of return 😉
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Joey’s library! I’m with you, more bookshelves is the way to go. “Borrowed and loved beyond the time of return” — love that! It has to be one of the best fates for books. A friend once had a spreadsheet and check-out system…but we all just laughed 🙂
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