It happens to all of us. It may be that our bookshelves are too crammed and there’s nowhere to put our latest acquisitions. It may be that we’re downsizing, moving to smaller quarters, and we have to divest ourselves of some of our possessions—including books. It may be that we have a new spouse or S.O. moving in with us, and we have to make room for his or her books, so some of ours have, however regrettably, got to go. It may be that an adult child is moving back in and needs the space.But for whatever reason, you find yourself in need of disposing of some books. What are you going to do? You can’t just throw them out—who treats good friends like that?
Here are some suggestions:
~ Donate them to your local library. Be aware that libraries, too, have limited space, and instead of shelving all the books you give them, they may store some for a future book sale. But that’s all right—they’ll still wind up in someone’s home where they’ll be appreciated, and the library will benefit financially from the proceeds of the sale.
~ If your church, synagogue, or mosque has a reading room or library that includes secular books as well as religious ones, donate the books to them.
~ Or if your house of worship holds periodic yard sales, donate the books to them to sell at their next sale.
~ If you live in a condo or in a home in a development with a clubhouse, does the clubhouse have a library you can donate the books to? (If it doesn’t, consider asking permission to start one.)
~ Host a book exchange party. Make it potluck, so your costs are minimal or nil, or just serve chips and dips. Everyone brings the books they would like to find new homes for. The downside, of course, is that you may be tempted into “adopting” a bunch of new books and not clearing out your shelves the way you’d hoped to. The trick is to at least be sure you give away more books than you take in.
~ Hold a yard sale—for just books. This may not be worth it if you are parting with only five or 10 books, but for anything more it’s worth a try.
~ Rather than a yard SALE, try a yard GIVE-AWAY…and this will work even if you have only a small number of books to find new homes for. Put a table out in your front yard, with the books arranged spine-up on it, and a big sign: FREE BOOKS.
~ If you belong to a local FreeCycle group, you can offer the books through the group. (If you aren’t yet a member but there is a FreeCycle group in your area, consider joining.)
Parting with old friends is never easy, but thinking of the joy your books will bring to their new owners can help ease the pain considerably.