Recycling your reads

One major influence that my late mother had on my life was to develop my interest in reading.  When I was a young child, she, herself being an avid reader, took me to the bookmobile.  She was handicapped, so climbing the steps of the bus was a serious and painful effort.  She solved the problem of the squirming little one by setting her next to a bottom shelf full of books with pictures.  When we finally got a neighborhood library, our summers were wonderful, with weekly trips to that marvelous building of light and . . . books.  In those days, an adult patron could check out twelve books, a child six.  Mama traded with me, getting six and letting me have twelve!

One other influence from my mother came when I heard her say:  "I'd rather have a roomful of books than walls filled with art."  Some might think that that was a negative influence, but what's done is done.  I freaking love books.  Not just to read.  I love to touch them, hold them, see how they are made.  I love to look at them.  Take me to a party and park me next to the bookcase. I'm good for hours. I can read tables of contents and indices with great contentment.  My dream home will have wall to wall bookcases and a nice comfy chair.  Oh, and lots and lots of books.

In reality, I have too many books.  I didn't think that would ever be possible, but I just can't store all that I have.  A hoard of books, packed away, is not the same as a library of books with all of them accessible for reading and, OK, admiring. Gotta let go of some.  No doubt you do, too.

I'm thinking it's a good thing to keep books out of landfills.  Also good to make them available to others who have less access, either because of money or of mobility/transportation issues.  Before we think about turning our books into trash or even about Recycling them, let's think about ways to work with the other R's in the environment:  Reduce and Reuse.  The obvious places to let go of our treasured books are Half Price Books and Goodwill.  But these options involve getting a poor return on the original investment or, in the case of Goodwill, not everyone's favorite place to donate.

There are other options to consider.

• Schools.  Talk to the teachers you know and see if they need books for their classroom or their school's library.  Not all books will be appropriate there, but a few might just find the perfect place to inspire our community's future. Once you have an idea about what is needed, consider holding a book drive in your neighborhood.
• Senior facilities.  Senior residential facilities often have a library or reading room.  My experience is that the books there need constant replenishing.  As it happens, ESOA has a link to one such residential complex, Wildflower Terrace, so this might be an easy to send your treasures on to a new life.* There are surely other such facilities near you.  Adopt one.  Talk to the management about what is needed, and consider holding a book drive in your neighborhood.
• Recycled Reads.  This program of the Austin Public Library takes donations of used books.  The donated books then may be sold to the public: $2 for hardbacks, $1 for paperbacks.  Proceeds benefit Austin Public Libraries.
• Buy used.  If the book you want is popular enough or old enough, there may be used copies available from a variety of sources:  Half Price Books, eBay, Amazon, Goodwill, etc.  Before you buy a new book, think about whether it's likely to be something that you will want to keep in your library or get rid of after one reading.  Maybe used will do just as well?  While this option doesn't get royalties to authors and it doesn't reduce the actual number of books in print, it is a strategy for reducing your own personal contribution to the landfill.  It extends the life of the book itself when you buy used, moreso when you pass it on when you are through with it.
• Download.  A variety of reading options are available for you if you just download a book instead of buying the print version.  You can read books on your computer, cell phone, or dedicated reader.  You can buy them new at a (somewhat) reduced price and, in the case of your cell phone, carry them around in your pocket for as long as you want.  You can even get free books, if you're into classics and out-of-copyright works, from several sources, but especially from Project Gutenberg, which makes them available in a variety of formats to accommodate just about any type of reading device.  Search for author Felix Adler and see what comes up.  
• Read 'em again.  If a book is worth keeping, it should be worth re-reading. Take some time to reconsider your personal library holdings.  What have you not yet read?  What have you read and forgotten?  What have you read and really want to read again?  Hate to let go of that book?  Read it again!

Do you know of other places where we can donate used books?  Do you have a favorite place to buy used books?  What other ways might we reduce our consumption of printed books or reuse the ones we have?

--------

*Hat tip to Bob Warren for modeling this ethical action.