Take Another Book

Given my recent post about my magazine junkie-ness, it probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that I’m also a book junkie. Where ever my husband and I have lived, we’ve always had to have plenty of space to store our books and other printed materials. I’ve still got my high school copy of J.D. Salinger’s classic Catcher in the Rye, and we’ve got two dog-eared copies of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, both from our respective college years, among many, many other titles. I was so proud to be able to hand down my boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books, though these days my daughters would rather read about magical wizards and orphans facing unfortunate events.

Every time we’ve moved (and that would be six times during 15 years of marriage) we’ve tried to thin our book collection, just so we would have fewer boxes to pack and schlep to the new place. Over time it’s gotten harder and harder to thin these collections, especially since our local library frowns upon book donations due to its small space.

So what’s a charitably minded girl like myself supposed to do when she wants to donate books instead of tossing them in the thrash? If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are some solutions I’ve found and you may not have considered:

* Bring children’s books to a pediatrician’s office
Like the cliche of finding decades’ old magazines in the doctor’s office, pediatricians’ waiting rooms aren’t always much better with stocking newer books. A few years ago, when my daughters graduated from picture books to books with words and chapters, we asked their pediatrician if she would like some of our picture books for the waiting room. “Absolutely,” she replied, and off we went to the doctor’s office with two healthy kids (no sick visits that day) and two boxes filled with used children’s books.

* See if a teacher needs to build his classroom library
At back-to-school night this week, my daughter’s 5th grade teacher gave us a list of volunteer opportunities within her classroom. The one that caught my eye, because it was so unexpected, was the request for donations of books and magazines (G-rate, natch) for the classroom. Naturally, I’m kicking myself just getting rid of 12 Magic Tree House books–they would have been great to give to my daughter’s teacher–but I’ll be sure to troll my kids’ bookcases now for any books that have fallen out of favor and that her teacher might like to adopt for her classroom library.

* Ask if you can donate books with clothes and household items you give to charity
For years I’ve been relying on the Purple Heart to take away items that we no longer need or use, and that are still in good enough shape for someone else’s closet or home. What I love about the Purple Heart is that they come to your house to pick stuff up, and what makes me love them even more is that they take books.

* Give them away to friends, family members, neighbors or Freecyclers
I have two girlfriends that I can always rely on to provide me with hand-me-down books that they’d recently read in their book group. (I’m just not a book group kind of person. I’ve tried three different times, and I just couldn’t deal with the commitment.) Two gems I still remember their giving me were The Kite Runner and I Don’t Know How She Does It. Both were great books, which I eventually handed on to other friends, but the best part was that we were keeping books out of the trash and saving ourselves money. You can also put an “offer” posting on your local Freecycle list for any books you’re looking to get rid of, and I’m sure someone will be by to take them off of your hands.

OK, I’ll fess up right now that suggesting trading books is a bit of sacrilege since I’m a book author and rely on book royalties to live. I realize that people borrowing each other’s books doesn’t really help in the royalty realm, but in a frugal and green world it makes sense, right?

What are some other creative ways you use to get rid of used books–without throwing them out?