Same, and I would yse them to restock the local Little Free Libraries.

Sadly, I was told if I did that I would be fired for stealing. The front cover would be torn off and sent back to the publisher for "unsold book credit." But that was over 30 years ago, things might be different now.

even if it's "Art of the Deal"?

I'll take them if you don't want them! I LOVE 📚! 📚 are the best thing ever!

Me too. I pass all my books along and to whomever they go to, I always say, pass it on and for them to say the same to the next person

Don't have to. Just wheel the whole thing away to a free library, unload and return the dumpster afterwards.

I actually did that once with some friends passing by a dumpster near the library. They threw old books away. I don't know if l should be ashamed or proud. Lol

You would be breaking the law

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

This comment has been deleted.

While I have no desire to argue with your experience or subjects other than what I am posting about, you ought to know that many old science and engineering books, while indeed containing a *lot* of outdated info, also contain a LOT of technical drawings, simpler/different perspectives/explanations, and hidden info that even professionals have UTTERLY FAILED to retain in more modern publications. Source: my own research, and I was particularly irate that, after many years of idly perusing *lots* of technical books, the only place I found a very accurate (and NEVER CHANGING) diagram of gas refrigeration systems was an engineering book from the 1940's....... I was, however, quite ecstatic to find this book in my late grandfather's belongings..... and I lost it in a terrible fire..... :'-(

Thank you! My best friend is a librarian, and "her" library doesn't even accept books older than 5 years. For old books, you need to see an antiquarian, and then they'll have to judge if they'd get anything for those books or not. Do people not realise how many books are printed every day?

Thank you! Moved recently and pretty sure nobody wants 40kg of paper about programming 20 years ago (java4.0 amd action script)

lol.. fellow librarian here.. can relate. it's just paper

I've thought about how library usage is a lot different now that a lot of people have e-readers or tablets they read on. I know a lot of people want to read 'real' books, but there must be an increasing downturn in production. As demand in libraries goes down, less space and library staff are needed. I have wondered if librarians are starting to train and shift some of their work towards what is needed in the more technological world.

Just don’t take the donations, then, Librarian. Otherwise, smile, say thank you and don’t bi*tch and moan about it. That’s like a wait staff saying “everything on the menu sucks; can I take your order?” 😖

Your point is well made, and well taken, Kinberlee. But, be honest - would you rather deal with people like us, with a sometimes-misplaced reverence for books, or with the book-bannin', book-burnin' MAGAts?

Yes. Some books are not there to stay forever. On the other hand, old textbooks are sometimes fun to read, how much chemistry, physics or medicine changed in 50 years is pretty amazing.

I am not going to pretend that I'm an expert on running a bookstore or a publishing company, so please help me understand if you can. If those books were cräp, why were they even printed in the first place? Bad movies were directly released to DVD, skipping the expensive cinema phase. Can this not be replicated with e-book releases? I can imagine that libraries or other institutions may have a limit on accepting donations, but printing trash and filling landfills seems like a weird business model overall. But again, I don't know how that works, so I invite discussion.

Not everyone wants to read intellectual material. I like to wind down a long, stressful day with a good bodice ripper or an intriguing mystery. 🙂

Yep. I have had to do this. They told us it was illegal to donate or keep them because they have to be destroyed so the bookstore can be reimbursed. You would think they would be recycled at least. I think these type of "mass market paperbacks" have a note inside saying if you find one without a cover it's stolen.

I absolutely did not have a stack of books in my home with missing covers. I swear I didn't.

Do you choose to buy from your local hardware/grocery/book/toy/clothing/homegood stores or sometimes purchase from Amazon or Temu or other online businesses? Those choices are part of “The wonders and joys of capitalism”.

Open an account on Amazon and use it for an additional platform.

Thanks for the explanation. I've seen coverless books before and wondered about them

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

I buy most of my stuff from Amazon. Quick, easy, great prices, home delivery. If an independent bookshop can't compete with Amazon it should probably switch over to selling donuts.

Why not donate them to a church, a charity, a cancer store where they can be sold for 50¢ and benefit somebody rather than just tossing them? Our church used to have used book sales like this, cover torn off, but appreciated just the same.

it is just not economic to process returns. most publishers either get the bookshops to rip of the front cover (so they can't be sold) and send that back or if they do accept the whole book, they often just dump them into skips to be pulped

Maybe these are on their way to be recycled

Maybe could use them for pet rats, mice, Guinea pigs........

you cannot give them away. If the cover has been ripped off, then a refund has been given by the publisher. The books have to be destroyed.

Not every city has recycling centers, and even when they do, they rarely accept books. Different types of paper and treatments make it hard to recycle books. It takes specialist "book recycling" places to do it.

You’ll have to tear the pages out to do that. The spines will jam recycling machinery, and books are thrown away at recycling centers. If you have a table saw, you can cut the spine off quickly and safely, and then recycle the pages.

Thank you! 👊🏽

Just because you ( and I ) don’t agree with him, doesn’t mean we should burn his books. Literature is important, whether good or bad, because it shows view points other than our own.

Typical leftist attitude. If you disagree with something, censor it, ban it or cancel it.

😍

I doubt your collections were as large as the quantities book stores regularly have to purge. Raunchy romance novels, sci-fi, and mystery novels with neverending "new" stories aren't something most places would want as donations. That was the bulk of what we had to dispose of every week.

Ok in that case yes

Only if, *verifiably*, other copies in better shape exist, and then, Yes

Why? Are you willing to go in dumpster for Dan Brown or Donald Westlake? Those are not some amazing books you need to read, those are books nobody wanted to pay for. Maybe if you want to use them for some DIY project, build a chair of them or create a storage in them, sure, but it is just paper.

These unsold books are usually fiction

NOT true in the least; on the contrary, most should be saved somewhere for reference

No, no, no. Don’t donate it unless you *know* - i.e. have been told by someone who works at the place you’re donating it to - that they want it and will use it. Otherwise, they’ll have to waste time and energy sorting through your donation and then wind up throwing most of it away themselves, which is less efficient/environmentally friendly than you throwing it out yourself. Don’t throw things out wastefully, of course, but if it’s outdated, or a mass market paperback with some wear and tear, or just doesn’t look like something anyone else would want, please, please, please just throw it away.

Charity shops get so overwhelmed with books being donated they won't take them anymore. People get misty eyed about books, but it's the ideas they contain that matter

To whom do you donate raunchy romance novels? Also, without proof of destruction, publishers won't issue credit to the store for the unsold books.

SO many books get donated, because people think they can't throw away books. The palaces that get those donations usually have to throw out the majority of them, because no, not every book is useful, liked and of great value and if it is one that no one will ever borrow/buy anyway they just take up space.