What To Do With Old Books When You Declutter

Is there such a thing as too many books?  

Books are the one thing that I don’t mind spending money on,  however,  after a while the bookshelves just get a bit too full. As  I look around my house deciding what areas to declutter, I wonder what to do with them all. There are only so many shelves on them, right? But I would never throw one away…that just seems like sacrilege!

As we strive to reduce clutter in our lives, we need to take a long, hard look at how much stuff we really need.  But, how do you decide which ones to keep or get rid of? 

Getting rid of books is hard. Here are a few easy tips to help you thin the collection this month.

• Series don’t have to stay together.  If there is only one story of a series that you really like, ditch the others. 
• Copy recipes from cookbooks if you only use one or two.  No need to keep the whole thing if you don’t use most of the recipes.
• Don’t keep old textbooks.  They might remind you of your glory days as a college student, however, do you really need them?  If you don’t use those textbooks in your current profession, recycle them, or donate them.
• If you finished it, ask yourself if you will read it again.  Do you really want to read the biography of your favorite sports figure more than once?
• Transition to an e-reader.  You can get many of the classics for FREE as an e-book.  Ditch the paper version if you really think you will read them again. E-readers can be green alternatives to actual paper books. 

Book Donation Tips

The written word is precious. Don’t let it end up in landfills!  Of course, not all books are worthy of a second home.  Sometimes, your old-school textbooks just have no further value. 

How do you know whether you should look for book recycling bins or sell it on eBay? Here are a few book donation tips that might help.  Throwing them away s is NOT a good way to deal with them! If you want more sustainable decluttering tips, check out my post on recycling resources

• Don’t donate books that are water damaged, smell like smoke, or are otherwise damaged.  No one wants them, trust me. 
• Most book donation programs accept only BOOKS.  Not photo albums, used sticker books, or old newspapers.  In addition,  don’t donate old library books.  That’s just not cool.  Give them back to the library if at all possible. 
• Ask yourself if it’s out of date.  For example, old encyclopedias (more than 5 years old) do no one any good.  
• Have questions?  Call and ask.  Contact your local book donation center and ask about their acceptance guidelines.  Don’t waste their time donating things that they don’t need or want. 

Should you throw away books?

Throwing away books is a crime, in my opinion!  There is no reason for a beautiful story to end up rotting in a landfill somewhere.  If you absolutely have no way to re-home or reuse old books, at least recycle them.

Paperbacks can be recycled, binding included.  However, if it has gotten wet or the pages have turned brown, they should be thrown in the trash.  You can’t recycle pages that have aged to the point where they are turning tan.   

Easy ways to recycle old books

Make sure your books don’t end up clogging the landfills. Wondering what to do with books after reading them? Here are some tips that will help you learn how to get rid of books without tossing them in the trash. 

Sell your old books on eBay  

It’s easy to do…all you need to do is set up an account. Once you have that, enter the ISBN number of the book you want to get rid of and all of the details about it will pop right up! This is a great way to make a little bit of money if you have some best sellers that need a new home.

Where to donate books

Many thrift stores, including GoodWill, accept books. You can use this as a tax write-off so make sure to get a receipt or proof of donation to include with your tax paperwork.

Donate to places like local hospitals, homeless shelters, adult literacy programs, and nursing homes.  Look for book donation bins near you. 

Sell them at consignment sales. 

I used to do this with the kid’s books quite a bit. Our sales have a ‘bag of books’ section where you can put 5 or 10 similar books into one big zip lock bag and price it as one piece. Saves lots of time!

Donate your books to someone on Freecycle. 

This is a great website for trading with others in your local community! You donate a science fiction thriller and maybe someone will give you some garden stuff you need this spring!

Find a second-hand bookstore in your area.  

Wondering what to do with books that can earn you new books? Earn credit for your donations at most second-hand book stores.  Use that credit towards purchasing other books in the store.

Use them for a social good project.

Encourage your library to get involved in the Better World Books program.  They work with over 3000 libraries across the US, Canada, and the UK to keep used library books out of landfills and put them in the hands of people who need them. There is no charge for participation in this group.

Host a neighborhood book swap.

This is a great way to get to know your neighbors while finding some great new reading material at the same time! Check out Book Riot for tips on how to host a book swap. 

Ask about book donation programs:

Do a random act of kindness.

Join Bookcrossing.com and make someone’s day a little brighter with a random act of kindness!  All you do is slap a label on the inside of your book, leave it in a public place to be picked up by random strangers, and track its progress online! How far will YOUR favorite mystery go?

Look for libraries in need.

Check out Adopt A Library They have a long list of libraries in schools, on American Indian reservations, and even in prisons that need all types of books.

While it is certainly understandable that libraries and retail stores want to keep their stock fresh and offer the most current titles, there are a lot of people in this world who would love to be given the chance to read our ‘castoffs’! 

Try as I might, I could not find a single organization, petition, or environmental group working toward getting publishers to stop pulping brand-new books. You can read more about the industry’s dirty little secret and if you find any information on how the public can help put an end to this policy, PLEASE let me know! Have any other tips on what to do with excess books?