What's the proper way to get rid of books?

Comments

• silver@lemmy.brendan.ie ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  if they are of decent quality a snd hand book store might take them

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• phillycodehound@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Donate them to the library or used bookstore

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• jordanlund@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Take them to a used bookstore.

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• Fartbutt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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.

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  • BloodSlut@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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.

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    • AmidFuror@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Sounds like they are pickier than a Peruvian money changer.

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  • totallynotarobot@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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.

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_Industries

    cbsnews.com/…/goodwill-head-who-makes-164000-fire…

    socialistworker.org/2017/…/why-goodwill-goes-bad

    cracked.com/article_33357_15-impressively-evil-th…

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• SWIM@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Make a little library on your front lawn and fill it up,before you know it they will be gone and people will have put others in its place.

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  • Bakachu@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Love these! We have one in my neighborhood and it’s pretty convenient to drop off my read pile in there.

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• ed_cock@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  it’s bad juju to throw books in the trash right?

  The books you are talking about are mass produced commodity items, right? If you don't want them anymore and don't know anyone else who does just treat them like any other print product and toss 'em out. They weren't painstakingly copied by monks, the knowledge inside will not be lost, just being a book doesn't make them special.

  Signed, someone who had to teal with a slew of outdated guidebooks, encyclopedias, cookbooks, reader's digest issues and whatever else from a deceased relative because they just couldn't bring themselves to put them in the recycling bin.

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  • mohKohn@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    just … bring them to a library or thrift store… they're better at figuring out what's actually valuable

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    • FelipeFelop@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Another vote for charity shops/thrift stores. It’s a good way to raise a little money for charity and for someone to get a book they might no afford at full price.

      I don’t know about the rest of the world but here in the UK, supermarkets and businesses sometimes have a little bookshelf. You leave any books you don’t want and people can take them putting a few coins in a collection tin that goes to a good cause.

      Another thing to do is take them to work, colleagues might well want them.

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    • ed_cock@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      If you have one nearby then maybe, but I bet you even they don't want that slightly water damaged, smelly copy of some cheapo 80s encyclopedia.

      Around here it's also relatively common to sell old books by weight/volume, either on flea markets or classifieds/Ebay.

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    • macrocephalic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      My local thrifty shop had a pallet of assorted books and you can fill a bag for $5. I think of it like a lazy person’s library, I get a bunch of books, pay my dues, and then return them when I’m done.

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• Rosriv@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I’d definitely recommend just leaving them in a book box. The concept is easy: leave a book, take a book. But there’s nothing saying you can’t just leave book. Don’t have one nearby? Create one. 🥰

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• satanmat@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Do your best impression of a Christian Nationalist and have a book burning.

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• RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Recycle them. Or call up your local library and ask if they want them. Usually libraries will have an attached used book store, sometimes they put donated books there.

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• Whitehorse@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  All the comments I’ve read so far have wonderful answers, but I didn’t see this one, though I understand you don’t want to destroy them for reading purposes, and I wouldn’t either, still, this is an alternative: use them for crafting, you can craft a lot of really neat things out of books, just do an image search on whatever browser search engine you prefer on topics like, Upcycled book/books, refurbish/referb a books/book, crafting with books, etc.

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• Spacebar@lemmy.world [bot] ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Good Will

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• PostmodernPythia@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  This is the service the library I used to work at used for discards. services.betterworldbooks.com/individuals/

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• ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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.

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  • HipPriest@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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

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• CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Recycle them. It’s a bound collection of cellulose (and some ink); cellulose can be upcycled into other paper products. Like insulation, attic blow-in, boxes, etc.

  Trashing it is trashing a resource, which sounds worse than it is in reality. It’ll rot & decompose nicely in a landfill.

  Burning books…SUCKS…take it from me like it takes FOREVER and it burns page by page, you have to stir it constantly.

  Finding a recycling center is so much better for the world, and easier for you. Win-win.

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• Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I have:

  • Sold books to used bookstores
  • Sold books online (one at a time, so only ones that could earn a lot)
  • Sold books in lots on Craigslist and in local groups
  • Donated them to my local library and Salvation Army
  • Given them to my kids' school
  • Given them to friends (after inquiring about their interest in the specific titles or authors)
  • Left them.in a box outside labeled "Free Please Take"
  • Placed them.in the free book thingy near my home where neighbors leave or take books (it looks sort.of like an old time call box except with shelves and a glass door)
  • Left them at hostels while traveling

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  • HubertManne@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Our train station has a straight up wood bookshelf for the take a book, leave a book thing. There should be a whole library sized one at every airport considering some of the delays.

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• jerrimu@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Give them away.

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• thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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.

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• FullOfBallooons@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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.

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• ShakeThatYam@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Donate to library or school if in decent condition. Recycle if not.

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  • Widowmaker_Best_Girl@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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.

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    • bhmnscmm@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      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).

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• HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  We accepted the bad juju and burned the nazi apologia we found in my grandmother’s abusive husband’s (that’s as close as I’m willing to admit being related to that shit) library, but other than that if you want the least effort just drop off a bag of books on the library’s doorstep in the middle of the night with a fiver and a note apologizing.

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  • Todd_cross@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Please do not drop books off at a library without asking. It’s really annoying.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      They weren’t asking for the most responsible way to get rid of books, they were asking for the easiest way.

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  • Tangent5280@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    That image is pretty funny - dropping off books like an unwanted newborn on the church steps, tearfully saying goodbye, telling the books that the nice people inside will take better care of them than you ever could…

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• agilob@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I sell on eBay for price of postage

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• Noxvento@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Based on Fahrenheit 451: Call your local Firefighter.

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• wrenn@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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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  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    [deleted]

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    • wrenn@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I like to cite my sources :)

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• andrewrgross@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  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 and burying an enemy alive.

  If you’re 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.

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  • ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    None of those seem like respectful uses of books.

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    • Alto@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah when I burned Ethan Frome it was specifically to be disrespectful

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• sprl@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Tiny libraries, second hand books, organisations, maybe even art schools.

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• Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Put them in Little Free Libraries, post them on your local Buy Nothing group, or sell them

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• MaxVoltage@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  fire

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  • blanketswithsmallpox@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    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.

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• ImADifferentBird@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  If they're in good condition, selling them to a used bookstore or donating them to a library are good ideas.

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