I hate throwing away old books...

[cynatnite]

During this whole downsizing thing, I've discovered my mother kept a lot of books. Mostly Christian-type or sewing ones. Many are not just old, but the bindings are torn or coming apart. The pages are brittle and in some, torn. There are some fiction ones as well. Most of these books go as far back as the 40's and some even the 30's.

I love books and I've got my own that I've tried to take really good care of.

Thing is, I know these books of my mothers would get very little or nothing at all.

I did post a few and only one was sold. That was a first edition book about the murder of JFK and the Warren Commission a few years after he was assassinated. The condition of that one was pretty good and it sold rather quickly.

Either way, I still have a lot of other books that are in such poor condition that I can't imagine even reading myself. They would fall apart quite easily.

Putting them in the trash just really makes me feel just icky, like I'm doing something horrible.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Donate to the Goodwill or someplace like this, someone will find the book(s) and enjoy, plus...

the funds raised by the sales of the books will help. I got tons of books too, been wondering what to do w/ them, some are collectible, a lot aren't, but I still enjoy the printed page...

[cynatnite]

3. I doubt they'd want the ones with trashed bindings and practically coming apart...

Some of them are in just such a poor state.

[Aristus]

12. Most places that accept used goods have a network of recycling vendors for them to place

recyclable goods that are no longer serviceable. I used to throw away old underwear until I found out it can be recycled as insulation, cotton batting, etc. I make sure old pairs are clean, then put them in a bag marked 'Recycle. Not Suitable For Re-Use'. Then put them in one of those clothing donation bins.

[bif]

21. Anyplace but Goodwill!

It's not a charity but a for profit corporation. It's coo makes millions.

[Shrike47]

2. I give books in good shape to our library (Friends of the Library, actually). They have book sales.

The ones in bad shape, I recycle. It hurts.

[cynatnite]

5. I can set the bad ones aside for recycling. It hurts, but better than nothing I suppose. n/t

[csziggy]

15. My sister is involved in the Friend of the Library in her town

She convinced them to make a deal with a recycling company. The books they cannot sell go into a bin and the FoL gets some money for them. It's not much, some amount of dollars per hundred pounds, but they get recycled and make a little money for the library.

When she is in charge of sorting books, romance novels and right wing books go straight into the recycle bin.

[tymorial]

4. I have numerous books as well and I too find it awful to get rid of them

There are used book sellers that may just take them off your hands rather than throw them in the trash. Some will buy them from you.

Libraries will accept donations too. When I moved I sold a ton of books to a large used book store in Connecticut.

[Sanity Claws]

6. A specialty library or museum may be interested in old books

Do some googling and see if there is a Museum of Sewing or Library of Sewing. If there is, contact them and see if they might be interested in the old books.

[radical noodle]

7. When my mother died

I had much the same thing. I found a pianist who wanted all her old music, no matter how worn. I found some cooks who wanted her old cookbooks, no matter how worn. Find a sewing group to try to find someone who might want the old sewing books. There are people out there that would cherish them, no matter how worn.

[northoftheborder]

8. I empathize totally with you about books.

When I moved I absolutely had to do something with my huge collection; those that were so old and of cheap paper that they smelled - were the only ones I trashed. The others mainly went to the library, which sent them on to their book store if not needed in the library, or they sold them online; some I took to half price books. Older books from the 1920's and earlier, still in good condition, and more valuable, are still under my bed - which I may try to sell online myself. I have almost stopped buying physical books; now read on I-PAD, or listen on Audible. But I still have 4 full bookshelves plus a desk piled with books.

Good luck!

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. there are online book trading sites

You get points for each book you trade in, the points can be used to get more books or you can donate the points at one site for various charities.

One site lets you use points on their sister site of dvds.

Downside, you have to mail the books to other members and the postage is higher now than when I was a member a few years ago.
and the books you post for swap might languish with no takers.
books have to be in good reading condition.

Scarce or old titles go fast, tho, esp. at bookmooch.

2 of the sites are:

bookmooch.com

http://www.paperbackswap.com/

[Runningdawg]

10. Homeless people want them

Put them in a big box marked free and set them outside a shelter.

[yellowdogintexas]

11. Crafters do very cool things with old books

even individual pages. Maybe a search in Pinterest on Old book crafts would yield some websites or blogs from folks who do this.

If the books are really too messed up to be read, crafters may want to use them.

If they are sturdy enough to be read, the fiction items could go to a book trader, Good Will or other thrift/charity group.

[Fla Dem]

13. If they're hard cover books, take the covers off and tear the pages from the bindings.

Then put them in recycle. At least this way you know they're not ending up in a landfill, but hopefully the pages will be recycled into another book.

https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/column/because-you-asked/can-i-recycle-books

Putting aside the stories or knowledge within its pages, what are books but stacks of paper held together by glue, cloth, or string? If you can put paper in your recycling bin, chances are you can recycle books, too. But exercise caution before putting whole books into the bin, because the stuff holding the paper together — glue, cloth, or string — can be problematic for some recyclers. There’s also the cover to consider, since it may contain plastic, cloth, leather, or other non-paper bookbinding materials.

[samnsara]

14. i never toss books....find a Goodwill or donate them to the library.

[bif]

22. Anyplace but Goodwill!

[lunamagica]

16. Use them to re-do your floors. Cool remodeling project

As a book reviewer, I get a ton of Advanced Reader Copies of books. These are uncorrected proofs that cannot be resold or donated. And it seems like such a waste just to throw them away. So, I thought, why not use them to cover my floor and decorate my home?

The first step was to take the books we were using, remove them from their bindings, and tear the pages into pieces. We opted to go with old books because the typefaces used in them would give the floor the vintage feel we were looking for. Then I could use all those Advanced Reader Copies in decorations. Once we had all the pages torn up, we used a 1:1 mixture of glue (just regular old white school glue) and water to make a thin paste. We brushed a layer of paste on a small section of floor, then began overlaying pieces of book page on the floor, covering with another layer of paste.

Link: https://www.recyclart.org/2013/03/how-to-make-your-floor-covered-with-book-pages/

[DFW]

17. So do I

My parents' house was full of old books from their parents' estates. Nothing really valuable, but there was a copy of Kipling's Jungle Book from 1899 printed on India paper, and some other book autographed by Mark Twain. At first, I thought that one was a real find, and then found out that in his later years, he was hard up for money, and autographed tens of thousands of books just for a few cents each. Still, I didn't know one of them had been in OUR family for the last century!!

[tanyev]

18. You're not going to like this.

I used to work at a library. We accepted donations from the public all year round and vigorously weeded our collection. We had a consignment guy who got first crack at everything and made quite a bit of money for us. After that most books went into storage for the annual book sale or to another thrift bookseller. But even after all that there were still a LOT of books to dispose of. Paperbacks went into the recycle bin. Hard covers went into the trash because we did not have enough staff to take the time to rip covers off.

If you can’t bear to get rid of them yourself find a library that accepts donations and they will make the decisions for you. Do not feel guilty.

[UniteFightBack]

19. Put them out front with a FREE sign. nt

[Xolodno]

20. I donate to a library....

....I know some won't cut the mustard and if they can't be recycled, well, I tried.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. Freecycle them

If you don't mind strangers coming to your home, you can list them on Craigslist in the "Free" section of "For Sale". You never know what people value. After my mom died in 2004, I had about 100 VHS movies of hers, mostly classics, to get rid of. A film student at UT was thrilled to get them. He called it "film school in a box".

[Dem2theMax]

24. If you live near any senior centers, contact them,

and see if they could use them.