Book disposal

M.M. Bennetts · Post by **M.M. Bennetts** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 9:56 am

Depends on the book.

Review copies of books I hated go in the bin. Review copies of books I liked, I keep.

The non-fiction I've acquired is usually in my area of expertise so I keep it. Unless it's some reference book that I've used until it falls to bits, then if I can replace it, I do.

Fiction--ah...now you've hit upon the danger zone...We don't have books in the dining room is all I'll say.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 10:31 am

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]I have to admit to being a hoarder and keep almost all of the books I've read. Needless to say, I'm rapidly running out of room. I occasionally give them to charity shops, bazaars etc. And I do give some away to friends. But if I liked it at all, I tend to hang on to it.[/quote]

Me too

I rarely give books away, especially if they're part of a series; however if I "go off" an author I may occasionally have a clear-out, eg I got rid of some of Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta books that weren't as good as the earlier ones, and her other police series sucked so they went straight out the door - I give them either to charity shops, or I have some friends who do a lot of work for a local charity and have a second-hand bookstall, and sell books on e-bay, for their charity, so now I give most of my books to them, as I know exactly where the money will go.

I am a terrible hoarder though!

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 10:47 am

I keep the ones I really love because I might want to quote from them or re-read a passage. I must admit most of my keepers are out of sight in my bedroom cupboards down to storage space issues, although I do keep an eclectic selection on the bookshelves in the spare room for visitors to peruse.
The ones I don't keep, I put in our recycle bin with magazines and newspapers.
I refuse point blank to give used books away to high street charities because the author receives no royalties from a second hand sale and the charity shops are in direct competition with booksellers. Oxfam for e.g. have dedicated book shops. With their prices being cheaper and their staff being volunteers, they can very quickly put the legit high street bookshop next door out of business. I don't buy second hand either unless out of print, but I do use the library extensively because in the UK, authors received a capped sum from a central government fund to take library borrowings into account.
Still, once we all have Kindles, the second hand book market will decline except for out of print.

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 11:31 am

I wish there were a way of donating slightly used but still good-condition books to the library system.
Wouldn't that help ease the immense costs of running the libraries? Would authors still get a fee for library borrowings on books donated?

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 12:17 pm

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]I wish there were a way of donating slightly used but still good-condition books to the library system.
Wouldn't that help ease the immense costs of running the libraries? Would authors still get a fee for library borrowings on books donated?[/quote]

I would love to be able to donate some of my only read once books to libraries, but I was told through a second authority that they weren't allowed to take them - which seems mad to me. I've never been and asked myself though, so I could have been fed wrong information. I am sure they could set it up so that authors received fees on donated books.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 12:34 pm

I'm with Michy, I rarely buy books as I'm a confirmed library person as well. I use Paperbackswap and Bookmooch for those books I can't get via library. I do have some keepers (books I'll reread), but otherwise I swap them off. The books from Amazon vine I can't swap or giveaway according to their rules (you're supposed to keep vine products forever and ever - even the food

). ARC's from publishers and/or wins at Goodreads/Librarything aren't considered postable on PBS or BM, but you can usually find someone willing to swap a point for them anyway.

I have a backlog of old paperbacks I'm slowly weeding out (list them when I need points), but I can also turn them in at the UBS for purchase credits.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 12:37 pm

[quote=""EC2""]I would love to be able to donate some of my only read once books to libraries, but I was told through a second authority that they weren't allowed to take them - which seems mad to me. I've never been and asked myself though, so I could have been fed wrong information. I am sure they could set it up so that authors received fees on donated books.[/quote]

Mine won't either. I had two perfectly beautiful copies of the last two of PS's Bronze Horseman trilogy and offered it to them considering how long the hold list is for TBH. They told me it cost them more to process a used book than to buy it new - even though they couldn't buy those new as they weren't available in the US.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 12:51 pm

The used books I donate to the library go to the annual library sale, not to the library collection, which tends to be weighted in favor of best sellers. Sadly, I find a much better selection of books at the library sale than I do in the library itself! I can easily come out with 25-plus books.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 2:16 pm

I've wondered whether the library keeps the books I (and others) donate, or whether they sell them. I will ask them when I make my annual book donation this December. It doesn't really matter to me, because either way the library benefits.

Miss Moppet · Post by **Miss Moppet** » Wed October 6th, 2010, 2:23 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Mine won't either. I had two perfectly beautiful copies of the last two of PS's Bronze Horseman trilogy and offered it to them considering how long the hold list is for TBH. They told me it cost them more to process a used book than to buy it new - even though they couldn't buy those new as they weren't available in the US.[/quote]

My local library service does not accept donations but my subscription library does, provided the books are hardback and fall within their collection remit.

I try to get everything from the library first so I rarely have anything to give away but what there is goes to friends, my favourite charities or the local recycling centre. I would love to give everything away on my blog but postage would be prohibitive. I'm always impressed by the generosity of bloggers who will post out books themselves, especially internationally.