Amira Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Having been the recipient of collections of books like this, I have to say sometimes just save a tree and recycle. You know how many 10-year-old English Language Learners in the third world REALLY NEED your book on Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel 2007? I mean really? People are so convinced that their trash must be worth something somewhere. Ask yourself, would you buy it for more than the list price, the cost to list (including labor) and shipping? No? Why do you think someone else wants that? I love books and I say, recycle! Make room for new, less moldy, more technologically relevant books. Yes. I cannot believe the junky and/or useless books that get shipped overseas. It is not true that any book in English is valuable to someone learning English, nor that every book is going to be very useful for keep your English reading skills up. Even if you don't have to ship them anywhere, there are lot of books that just aren't worth the space. I wouldn't want any book to completely disappear from the planet, but please, stop donating a lot of them. And those Soviet Union books did sound interesting to me. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I got some of my favorite books from library book sales. Very sad. I love library book sales. The best ones have a last day or last few hours where you fill a whole bag for set price, I usually end up with quite an eclectic selection from the fill a big days. I love that day! Mine does $10 for a paper grocery stack, and they don't bat an eye when the paper splits and falls apart at checkout. (Not that I'd know from personal experience :lol: ) My library doesn't seem to have any problem selling books. They have a designated area in the front of the library near the holds. I used to go every week, and the stock always seemed to be changing. Payment was on a volunteer basis and price was suggested. So, if someone truly didn't have money for a book, I don't think anyone would have minded if someone just walked off with a few. Of course, our librarians are the kind that like people to have books. The cheaply bound kids books and golden books were $0.10 each. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 My library doesn't seem to have any problem selling books. How do you know they did not cull those first though? Maybe there were thousands of books and they chose the sellable ones. They also might be losing money and be selling books purely to avoid negative publicity. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 How do you know they did not cull those first though? Maybe there were thousands of books and they chose the sellable ones. They also might be losing money and be selling books purely to avoid negative publicity. They know me. I know them. We've discussed the sale books. This last summer I noticed a recent Star Trek novel on the sale shelf. I expressed my delight to one of the librarians. It might be a coincidence that another Star Trek lover started to donate just then, but recent Star Trek books started to show up regularly at my branch. They are picky, though, about books donated to be put on the shelves. Occasionally, I'll be reading a series using library books, and they'll be missing one in the middle. I'll ask if they would like a donated version of the missing one, and what binding. Sometimes they don't want one at all, and I'll just buy the cheapest for myself. I don't know how they could be losing money. They put the books on a sale area in every branch. And a box for people to insert money. No outlay of money. Prices are extremely cheap so turnover is fast. Once a year they have a sale at the local convention center, they don't pay for the building, and Friends of the library volunteer. Anything left at the end of the sale can be hauled away by anyone that wants them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I don't know how they could be losing money. They put the books on a sale area in every branch. And a box for people to insert money. No outlay of money. They need to pay somebody to sort the books, unless they're really putting EVERY book on the shelf, including the ones that are missing pages or have stains on them from... fluids. They need to pay somebody to go through and cover up every single marking that says the book belongs to the library, all the barcodes and all, and to stamp "REJECTED" or "WITHDRAWN" or "DISCARDED" on the inside of the front and back covers. Unless their volunteers do that stuff too, I guess. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 They need to pay somebody to sort the books, unless they're really putting EVERY book on the shelf, including the ones that are missing pages or have stains on them from... fluids. They need to pay somebody to go through and cover up every single marking that says the book belongs to the library, all the barcodes and all, and to stamp "REJECTED" or "WITHDRAWN" or "DISCARDED" on the inside of the front and back covers. Unless their volunteers do that stuff too, I guess. They also need to get someone to go through and take them out of the database and remove any security tape etc. That data entry stuff takes a lot of time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Even with volunteers, the idea of people who want to spread literacy, spending their time finding homes for books rather than, say, getting new books to kindergarteners, running after school reading programs, arranging loans to primary schools, etc... it's sad. All so people can feel like there's no waste. But it's a waste of human resources to spend all that time on maintaining old books or making people feel it's not a waste of paper, when that time could be spent on actual human beings. Other things the friends of the library could do: --Kids film festival (we have these) --Kids reading club --After-school homework club at schools --Local bookmobile --Researching grants for multi-media activities, new books, and so on --Helping people learn English All of those, IMO, are WAY more important than saving one more copy of Babysitter's Club #23 from recycling. And no they cannot do them all. There are limited resources available because this is all volunteer or taxpayer salaries. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I would like a way of indication in the system that I want to buy a certain book is removed from circulation. I hate it when my favourite books disappear. I have purchased a number of libray rejects through betterworld books lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Michelle. Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 All of those, IMO, are WAY more important than saving one more copy of Babysitter's Club #23 from recycling. I beg your pardon, but Dawn on the Coast is a classic. :lol: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 They also need to get someone to go through and take them out of the database and remove any security tape etc. That data entry stuff takes a lot of time. But, wouldn't they have to do that even if they threw it out? What I have seen done to the books is a WITHDRAWN stamp inside front cover. Physically that is the only things that are done to the books. Barcode, etc is still there. I know at my library, books are inspected when they are returned. Maybe other libraries do it differently, but otherwise would seem inefficient. So, if they are on the shelves they are presumed to be reasonable. I'm reminded of the poster here who posted about her distress when books she'd checked out would go straight into the trash when she'd return them. Right in front of her! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SproutMamaK Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 This is actually my job in college. Every few months I would go to various library branches and weed out books, sort them in piles to be shipped to headquarters if they were to be discarded. Then I would spend a few shifts a week at headquarters, sorting and boxing the books to be sent to various charities. Each of the charities had lists of what sorts of books they welcomed. Habitat for Humanity took nearly everything, gave them with the houses they built. Food banks and pregnancy centres loved children's books. Youth Centres liked biographies of inspirational figures. Inner city schools got a lot of non-fiction. There was a place for almost everything. I can't believe there are library systems in place that have NO plan for this and just throw everything out. That boggles my mind. That's one of the main logistic issues behind, you know, actually being a library. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Dude, get your laundry baskets and go dumpster diving. I'd have gone through and picked out a bunch of books for my personal library. Maybe some of those who are complaining would like to try and salvage or put together a committee of volunteers to process and rehome the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Update http://abc7news.com/education/alameda-county-library-looks-for-alternative-to-trashing-books/733528/ "At a meeting Wednesday evening, the library advisory board decided it was a good idea to contract Discover Books -- which collects, resells or gives away the material." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Ive worked in libraries - i think there could be that many books that really should be disposed of. Most of the popular paperback books have a very limited shelf life, and they come through the system in huge numbers. Often libraries have to buy many copies in order to make sure people can get them when they are first released. After a year or so, there is less demand, and if they are in good condition most will go to book sales. But a lot won't be in good condition. But the main thing is that there are so many books that become obsolete. A great percentage of non-fiction will not be relevant in the long term, it becomes out of date, sometimes within a few years or even yearly. Some things turn out to be just trash. When books that seem out of date or undesirable are on the shelves, it impacts the circulation of the other books as well, because people can't find things as easily, and they are expensive to store. The fact is that most books that aren't circulating for those reasons won't sell at a library sale either. Sure, some will - but there are many that will simply sit there taking up room at the sale table for years on end. Some people seem to think that books like that should be sent to poor schools in the developing world, but not only is that expensive, they don't want them either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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