Donating our books is one of the best options to free up space in our library.
To carry out a book donation it is necessary that you first inform yourself about some issues.
Row of aged books of which only the edge is visible
Accumulating books is one of the ills that afflict readers. Without hardly realizing it, you find yourself with a shelf overflowing with copies and, those that do not fit, you leave them scattered around the house like Tom Thumb with his breadcrumbs. Books that you buy, that they give you, that you borrow… one after the other, they form an unsustainable pile of works that, as much as it hurts, you have to get rid of.
Once you have admitted that you have space problems, it is time to take action. It is then that you ask yourself, what do I do with all these books? Donating is one of the first options that come to mind. Now, despite being a relatively simple process to carry out, it never hurts to take into account a series of issues that will make it even easier. Here are four things you should know before donating your books.
How should the books that I am going to donate be?
The first thing to keep in mind when donating books is that not all copies are valid and, therefore, not all will accept them wherever we want to deliver them. Each space will have its own requirements, but there are some rules that apply to all of them.
The essential thing is that the books are in good condition. They do not have to be new, as is logical, but they must be well bound, not missing pages, or contain stains on their pages that prevent them from being read; they will not be valid either if they are broken, damaged or have, for example, fungus. In most donation places they will not accept school books, encyclopedias or yearbooks either, as they are materials that easily become obsolete and lose their validity from one year to the next.
What books do I want to donate?
Before starting to donate books without rhyme nor are they, the best thing to do is to select from among all our volumes those that we are clear that we are no longer going to read, that we read at the time and did not like, that were given to us but did not match the genre… Depending on the size of your collection, this work will take you more or less time; the important thing is that you end up having a list with all the titles you want to give a second life to.
This step will not only help you to organize yourself better and have more control over the copies you have, but it is also very useful information that will facilitate the work of those who accept your books. Therefore, take note of the most relevant data on the work : title, author, publisher, target audience, genre, edition and year of publication. In this way, at first glance, those who collect the books will be able to determine which ones are of interest to them and which ones are not.
Where can I donate my books?
Another fundamental aspect of the book donation process is selecting where the copies are going to be donated. Each of the establishments has certain requirements that you must abide by, so find out properly to see if what you offer them meets what they need or if, on the contrary, it is better that you find another home for them.
When we think of freeing our collection of works we don’t want, libraries are the first to come to mind. However, not all of them accept donations, so it is essential to find out the conditions of each particular library before going to them with our overflowing boxes of books. In the event that they are accepted, present them the list you have made, as it will be very useful for them to assess whether they are valid for the library.
Another fantastic option is to give our books to foundations and NGOs. Users of these types of organizations can greatly benefit from all the issues that have been gathering dust for years on your shelves. So don’t hesitate any longer, pack up your books and let those who need them most give them a well-deserved second life. Of course, take into account the group to which they are directed to offer them the most useful for them; In general, the ones they will appreciate the most will be children’s, youth and educational books.
Other establishments that can be a perfect home for your disused books are cultural spaces, residences or prisons. In the case of residences, consider donating copies with quite large print, otherwise it is more than likely that they will not be able to enjoy them because they cannot read them well.
If we do not want to limit our options to donation, there are bookstores and second-hand stores that pay a small price —more symbolic than anything else— to purchase your copies. There is also the possibility of going to exchange markets, where you leave your book and take the one that someone else has previously deposited.
And after reading our tips, you are fully prepared to give others the opportunity to enjoy your books.
Leave a Reply