What to do with old books? (Note: this is a long read)

Gautama · 06-08-2019 11:40AM #1

Like many people, I love books. And like many people, I love books too much. I’m 47 and I’ve held onto just about every book I’ve ever bought. I spent a year in Australia 20 years ago, and before I came home I sent a box of books that I’d read in those 12 months home to Ireland via surface mail!
Have I looked at those books since? Ehhhhh.

My wife would love if I just got rid of them! But it seems such a waste.
I’d various plans on making the books a “feature” in a room. My latest plan was a single shelf, about a foot down from the ceiling, running the entire length of the wall (or maybe all four walls), jam-packed with my books.

But is there any point of holding onto them? There are only a few that I’ve read more than once, e.g. Trainspotting, Generation X or No Logo. I’m unlikely to read any of the rest a second time. There are some that I’ve never read, i.e. I haven’t got around to them yet. There are some that I’ll never read. There are some that are crap, e.g. Prozac Nation, some that are disappointing, e.g. Vernon God Little, and some that I just do not get, e.g. The Moors Last Sigh.

There are some I will retain for reference purposes, like gardening books or cook books.

But the vast majority are just CLUTTER. This is how my wife sees them. This is what my mothers books were after her passing. This is what these books will be when I pass. And right now, they are just clutter.

I still haven’t rubbished the idea of the single end-to-end shelf. It’s something I could do myself but I fear it’ll just be a different form of clutter and a dust trap too.

Taking them to a second hand bookshop is probably out: do these even exist anymore?
Taking them to a charity shop is out: after the scandals of Console/Goal/ReHab etc., and anecdotal evidence of staff cherry picking.
I could slowly get through them by using them to light the stove. We light the stove nine months of the year. But paper tends to produce an inordinate amount of ash and I’m always wary of the prescient Heinrich Heine quote, “where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.”
Give them away to a library: I don’t think such library’s exist in Ireland as elsewhere?

I’m leaning towards the DoneDeal option. Advertising the books in bulk (Ian McEwan books, or misc travel books). There are a few academic books that may garner a reasonable price on eBay.
I’m very familiar with selling on DoneDeal (see above reference to my mothers passing: books, furniture, electrical, etc.)

What is leftover after, say, nine months I’ll disperse by other means. The money I’ll get I’ll squirrel away and this time next year... I’ll go on an Amazon splurge!

No!

Maybe a bottle of Midleton whiskey. Something special but will be fully consumed.

Well, there are my thoughts on old books (aka literary litter), what are yours?

kneemos · 06-08-2019 11:42AM

Do you even read bro?

Tikki Wang Wang · 06-08-2019 11:42AM

Gautama wrote: »

Like many people, I love books. And like many people, I love books too much. I’m 47 and I’ve held onto just about every book I’ve ever bought. I spent a year in Australia 20 years ago, and before I came home I sent a box of books that I’d read in those 12 months home to Ireland via surface mail!
Have I looked at those books since? Ehhhhh.

My wife would love if I just got rid of them! But it seems such a waste.
I’d various plans on making the books a “feature” in a room. My latest plan was a single shelf, about a foot down from the ceiling, running the entire length of the wall (or maybe all four walls), jam-packed with my books.

But is there any point of holding onto them? There are only a few that I’ve read more than once, e.g. Trainspotting, Generation X or No Logo. I’m unlikely to read any of the rest a second time. There are some that I’ve never read, i.e. I haven’t got around to them yet. There are some that I’ll never read. There are some that are crap, e.g. Prozac Nation, some that are disappointing, e.g. Vernon God Little, and some that I just do not get, e.g. The Moors Last Sigh.

There are some I will retain for reference purposes, like gardening books or cook books.

But the vast majority are just CLUTTER. This is how my wife sees them. This is what my mothers books were after her passing. This is what these books will be when I pass. And right now, they are just clutter.

I still haven’t rubbished the idea of the single end-to-end shelf. It’s something I could do myself but I fear it’ll just be a different form of clutter and a dust trap too.

Taking them to a second hand bookshop is probably out: do these even exist anymore?
Taking them to a charity shop is out: after the scandals of Console/Goal/ReHab etc., and anecdotal evidence of staff cherry picking.
I could slowly get through them by using them to light the stove. We light the stove nine months of the year. But paper tends to produce an inordinate amount of ash and I’m always wary of the prescient Heinrich Heine quote, “where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.”
Give them away to a library: I don’t think such library’s exist in Ireland as elsewhere?

I’m leaning towards the DoneDeal option. Advertising the books in bulk (Ian McEwan books, or misc travel books). There are a few academic books that may garner a reasonable price on eBay.
I’m very familiar with selling on DoneDeal (see above reference to my mothers passing: books, furniture, electrical, etc.)

What is leftover after, say, nine months I’ll disperse by other means. The money I’ll get I’ll squirrel away and this time next year... I’ll go on an Amazon splurge!

No!

Maybe a bottle of Midleton whiskey. Something special but will be fully consumed.

Well, there are my thoughts on old books (aka literary litter), what are yours?

Tldr

silvervixen84 · 06-08-2019 11:44AM

I live in London and my local tube station has a book shelf where you can leave books for fellow public transport users to take for free. I'm moving flat soon so I recently brought a big bag of books there. Do any train or bus stations back home do this?

06-08-2019 11:44AM

Bring them to charity shop and move on with your life.

facehugger99 · 06-08-2019 11:45AM

Dress up as a Nazi and burn them in your back garden.

Will freak out the neighbours.

Dial Hard · 06-08-2019 11:46AM

I'm a voracious reader and have hundreds of books. They're in wall to wall shelves in my living room.

However, I only keep books I'll reread. Anything I didn't enjoy enough to want to revisit gets given away, usually to friends or family but this is obviously a lot easier when you're doing it on a book-by-book basis. I suspect nobody is going to want to take hundreds of books off your hands.

Every few years I do a big clear-out and generally end up with a few boxes of books I once liked but have since outgrown. I give them to charity and suggest that's the best solution for you too. Unless you have a few rare editions in them, selling them will net you a few pence per book at best. Charity donation is win-win, imo.

ETA: just saw your anti-charity bit. Seriously, dude, pick a local charity you trust and drop them off. Volunteer staff cherry-picking a few books out of a giant donation isn't exactly corruption on a giant scale.

StoptheClocks · 06-08-2019 11:52AM

My local library has a trolly at the door to leave books on, for people to take.
I usually take a bag of books to leave on the trolly but always end up bringing a few more books home.

Zaph · 06-08-2019 12:03PM

BrownFinger wrote: »

Bring them to charity shop and move on with your life.

^ This

I was the same as you, I had hundreds of books that were never going to be re-read taking up a ridiculous amount of space in one room. I went through them all, kept about two dozen for various reasons and the rest went to the charity shop. If the workers there wanted to help themselves to a few, so what? They're volunteers giving up their time, a few free books is the least they deserve, and there were plenty more left to sell. I now make much more use of my Kindle. Sure, it's not the same as the feel of a book in your hand, but the books I'm interested in are frequently a lot cheaper and I don't have to deal with offloading loads more books that also won't be re-read at some stage in the future.

As for burning your books, it's not very environmentally friendly now, is it?

Earthhorse · 06-08-2019 12:11PM

Gautama wrote: »

There are some that I’ll never read. There are some that are crap, e.g. Prozac Nation, some that are disappointing, e.g. Vernon God Little, and some that I just do not get, e.g. The Moors Last Sigh.

Get rid of the crap ones and ones you didn't get; what's the point in keeping them? The disappointing ones I'll leave you to decide. This will reduce your number such that the ones that are clutter won't feel so cluttery any more.

Taking them to a second hand bookshop is probably out: do these even exist anymore?

In Dublin there's Chapters and The Secret Book and Record Store. Don't know where you're based but they certainly do still exist here. Keep an eye out for book fairs etc. in your area where you could do this too.

Taking them to a charity shop is out: after the scandals of Console/Goal/ReHab etc., and anecdotal evidence of staff cherry picking.

Wouldn't be too worried about this kind of thing tbh. Unless you have a real reason to not involve yourself with a charity what harm is giving them some books really going to do?

Well, there are my thoughts on old books (aka literary litter), what are yours?

I do a purge every so often of books I didn't enjoy reading to try and keep the volume down. I also occasionally offer them out to friends I know are readers but I feel slightly guilty doing this as I don't recommend them. But everyone has different taste so I don't feel too guilty.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 06-08-2019 12:11PM

Stop prevaricating and looking for excuses not to; drop them in to a charity shop - SVP, Simon, any of them.

abff · 06-08-2019 12:12PM

Interesting post. I also have hundreds of books, most of which I will never re-read and some of which I haven't even read. I've also got hundreds of books on my kindle.

My wife would love me to do a big clear out, but I'm something of a hoarder and find it hard to throw anything away. A couple of years ago, I managed to get rid of a load of old vinyl records that had been stored in the attic for years. I know I might have got some money for these, but I discovered that my niece's husband was an avid collector so I gave them to him.

I guess I feel the same way about the books. I'd be happy to give them to a 'good home', but don't want to just throw them away or see them go to waste. I probably just need to psyche myself up for a visit to the local charity shop.

Darthvadar · 06-08-2019 01:49PM

My local hospital has a volunteer-run coffee shop... They have a book trolley where people can leave books that they no longer want... They can be purchased for a Euro or two, with all proceeds going to the hospital... I leave books there regularly...

Darth...

MarquisDeSad · 06-08-2019 01:53PM

I'd suggest a local college of further education. My local one has a small selection of books and our always on the lookout.

Otherwise charity shop.

The Tetrarch · 06-08-2019 02:10PM

Lightweight

I have 1,000+ and am buying.
I mentioned to a person that I had a collection. He said he had 30,000+.

This week's order
Redwood. (M.M.). Proud Silk. A New Zealand Racing History. Wellington. £25
Tyrrel. (John). Racecourses On The Flat. £10
White ( Reginald) Ancient Epsom. the common fields and ancient roads. £18
CHINN. (Carl). Better Betting With A Decent Fellow. A Social History of Bookmaking. £10
BUDD. (Graham). Racing Art and Memorabilia. A Celebration of the Turf. 1997. £15
BOWEN. (Edward L.). Nashua. Thoroughbred Legends Series No. 8. Lexington, Kentucky. £15
BOYD. (Eva Jolene). Native Dancer. Thoroughbred Legends Series No. 7. Lexington, Kentucky £15
Robertson. (J.B.). The Priciples of Heredity Applied To The Racehorse. £20
Statistical Record The Statistical Record 1971 to 2002, complete with Return of Mares for each year £250

Get a bigger house.

orourkeda1977 · 06-08-2019 02:16PM

silvervixen84 wrote: »

I live in London and my local tube station has a book shelf where you can leave books for fellow public transport users to take for free. I'm moving flat soon so I recently brought a big bag of books there. Do any train or bus stations back home do this?

Its a good idea. The junkies are hardly going to take up reading are they?

BeerWolf · 06-08-2019 03:07PM

Got a small library expanding from the study into the entertainment room, with a vast collection of novels, magazines (TIMEs and National Geographic for the past 30 years), biographies, encyclopedias, comics all the way back to the 60s (Dad's mostly), Atlases, educational material and so forth.

I prefer having paper in my hands over digital.

BrokenArrows · 06-08-2019 03:50PM

Put them into related batches of 10 books and sell them on eBay.

Otherwise donate them if you don't need the cash.

Edgware · 06-08-2019 05:10PM

facehugger99 wrote: »

Dress up as a Nazi and burn them in your back garden.

Will freak out the neighbours.

Or similarly in a heap outside the Parish Priests house or at a mosque if one nearby.
Then set them on fire and ring Joe Duffy

Edgware · 06-08-2019 05:12PM

I believe Andy Dufrense in Shawshank Prison is looking to expand the library

Sheridan81 · 06-08-2019 05:30PM

Email Chapters in Dublin with a list of books and they'll offer you a small amount for them. Whatever you do, don't burn them. I use adverts to sell books. All my books are cheap. Check signature if anyone is interested in good cheap books.

Ragnar Lothbrok · 06-08-2019 05:46PM

I had nine or ten boxes of books to get rid of recently, that had been left in my house years ago by a friend who was moving about and needed to store them. After 4 years I was asked to just get rid of them.

After going through the boxes and taking a few for myself (we didn't have very similar taste in books) I contacted the local SVP charity shop offering to drop them off, but the woman told me that their shop couldn't cope with that amount of books at one time. She asked me to drop them into their warehouse (fortunately it is also based near home).

So, it may not be too easy to get rid of a large amount of books in one go, depending where you live.

As for my own books - I tend to hold onto them. I've read some of them half-a-dozen times, and most of them at least twice. I don't buy books unless I am fairly certain I will enjoy them, and don't often get it wrong.

I love the idea of the single shelf around the room, but you will need to dust them regularly, and if you have any sort of mobility problems this could be a pain.

Sheridan81 · 06-08-2019 06:03PM

I've never read a book twice, unless it's a poetry book. Life is too short.

Edgware · 06-08-2019 06:06PM

A lot of the charity shops say that they have too many books in store now. Many of the books they sell end up back with them anyway when they have been read

nuac · 06-08-2019 06:48PM

I have been in Berlin a number of times. I see in Kreuzberg on a Sunday morning piles of books left out for the taking. Keep planning to bring some of my own next trip.

Have happily spent money on books over the decades. Children have suggested Kindle. Not for me.

Perhaps a shipment to Berlin?

khalessi · 06-08-2019 06:53PM

Had similar problem few years ago couple thousand books to get rid off. I kept the favourites and brought rest to a load of charity shops all around my area over a few weeks. Don't miss them now and am thinking of repeating the process and getting rid of a few more

otnomart · 06-08-2019 07:02PM

I don't have any space, so I have a handful of keepers, and the rest I read and give away.
Usually to friends, charity shops, a book crossing box in my area.
A couple of times I donated to a used-book stall in a market.
Check out the Red Cross as they used to take them in and bring them to hospitals and nursing homes.

rubberdungeon · 06-08-2019 07:09PM

Would this be an idea.

https://www.tcd.ie/library/support-library/donating-books.php

Donating Books and Manuscripts

The Library of Trinity College Dublin is conscious of how donations from both individuals and organisations have contributed to the development of its collections over more than four hundred years and welcomes all enquires from potential donors.

Any offer to donate material will be seriously considered.

Modern Books

Donating Modern, Readily-Available Books
Those seeking to pass on copies of modern popular works (paperbacks etc.) should note that books are also collected year-round for the Trinity College Dublin Annual Booksale at:

Booksale Office
Goldsmith Hall
Pearse Street
Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 1 8962276
E-mail: booksale@tcd.ie

Those wishing to donate modern (post-1900) publications should contact the Accessions Department.

Items will be evaluated by Library staff and only accepted if in accordance with the Library's Collection Development Strategy and Preservation Policy
The physical condition of the material will be a crucial factor.

The Library reserves the right to dispose of duplicates and other unwanted items.

All accepted donations must be sent to the Accessions Department.

No absolute commitment can be given as to when items will be processed, though effort will be made to ensure that it is completed as quickly as possible.

Donated material will be processed and catalogued to the same standards as other material and listed in the Online Catalogue.

The Library reserves the right to make decisions on the ultimate location of donated items.

Early Printed Books
Those wishing to donate early (pre-1900) publications should contact Early Printed Books and Special Collections.

Graces7 · 07-08-2019 09:31AM

BrownFinger wrote: »

Bring them to charity shop and move on with your life.

\agree... I am desperate for 2nd hand reading material and until I became housebound I would get a bag full from eg V ce Paul or more recently a small charity shop that supports and enhances Meals on Wheels.. then take them back when I had read them.

Stranded now and reread all I have!

OP do some good with them.. there are small local thrift shops in most places supporting local needs and folk like me who cannot access libraries..

SirChenjin · 07-08-2019 10:20AM

Similar to pp, I bag up books and bring them to various charity shops every so often. Most shops, ime, don't have capacity to take books in big quantities, but will gladly accept a shopping bag or two at a time.
Some shops (B&Q and Homebase are two I've dropped books to) have a table where people can buy the books with proceeds going to charity.
Honestly, I don't think there is much scope for corruption with a few books...

Other than that, sell them in batches, online.

Darthvadar · 07-08-2019 10:46AM

Graces7 wrote: »

\agree... I am desperate for 2nd hand reading material and until I became housebound I would get a bag full from eg V ce Paul or more recently a small charity shop that supports and enhances Meals on Wheels.. then take them back when I had read them.

Stranded now and reread all I have!

OP do some good with them.. there are small local thrift shops in most places supporting local needs and folk like me who cannot access libraries..

Some libraries have a Housebound Service, delivering books to people such as yourself... My late mum used to get a visit every three weeks to change books... It's a great service...

Your local library may do this... May be worth a call to them to enquire...

Darth...

What to do with old books? (Note: this is a long read)

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