Advice on donating/recycling

[Asimovian]

I get assigned with a lot of odd projects at work, and this one is no exception.

At our law firm, we have approximately 1300+ volumes (yes, I counted) of Federal Reporters, California Reporters, Supreme Court Reporters, and other miscellaneous legal books that are no longer needed because the resources are now all available online. I’ve been tasked with getting rid of this material.

I have talked to other law firms and a number of regular and law libraries regarding a possible donation, but no one is interested in them – primarily for the same reason that we’re no longer interested in them. Additionally, I’ve talked to a couple of recycling companies, but apparently they don’t take books.

I still have a couple of things I’m willing to try, including contacting the City of Los Angeles to see if perhaps they have any special programs related to the collection of old books. But I figured I’d also ask you folks if you have any ideas (or if you know anyone willing to pick up several bookshelves of thick books).

The idea of just tossing them in the trash seems wrong on many levels. There has to be a better way.

[A.R.Cane]

Law schools, prisons, small town gov’ts., small town lawyers, inner city legal clinics?

[Asimovian]

@A.R. Cane

Law schools, prisons, small town gov’ts., small town lawyers, inner city legal clinics?

I tried law schools without success, although that’s an excellent suggestion. Prisons had not occurred to me. I’ll look into that.

As for the other suggestions, I will look into them, but our reach can only go so far. The firm is not willing to pay to ship these anywhere: it would cost a significant amount of money just to buy enough banker’s boxes to pack them into. The hope is that we can find someone who will pick them up. But there are plenty of smaller communities in the area that might have some interest.

Thanks!

[scout1222]

If all else fails, post them on Craigslist. There might be some oddball who loves collecting that kind of stuff.

[Kalhoun]

Are they current? That would be the first thing to determine. Maybe you could e-Bay them?

If no one wants them, it’s probably not so bad to just pitch 'em. Even though the thought of tossing books has always gone against my grain as well.

[A.R.Cane]

@Asimovian

I tried law schools without success, although that’s an excellent suggestion. Prisons had not occurred to me. I’ll look into that.

As for the other suggestions, I will look into them, but our reach can only go so far. The firm is not willing to pay to ship these anywhere: it would cost a significant amount of money just to buy enough banker’s boxes to pack them into. The hope is that we can find someone who will pick them up. But there are plenty of smaller communities in the area that might have some interest.

Thanks!

Most moving companies sell used cartons. The standard 1.5 cu. ft. carton is also known as a “book” box. The law books should have an estimated value for tax purposes. The write off should cover the cost of packing and shipping them at a 4th class (book) shipping rate. You could also charge the recipient S&H and still use the books as a charitable deduction.

[vivalostwages]

@Kalhoun

Are they current? That would be the first thing to determine. Maybe you could e-Bay them?

If no one wants them, it’s probably not so bad to just pitch 'em. Even though the thought of tossing books has always gone against my grain as well.

Ebay. Sell them as lots.

[Random]

@vivalostwages

Ebay. Sell them as lots.

Might work for books in general, but these are case reporters. You kinda need
a complete set. No one is going to buy 10 random volumes of Federal Reporter.

We had this same issue some years ago. We ended up pitching them, although it did seem wrong.

[Shagnasty]

Are they mostly burnable? I would have a big book burning party because that kind of fire is really cool.

[Shayna]

Try these guys:

http://www.bridge.org/books.html

Thanks to the generosity of nearly 4,000 donors, we have sent more than 6 million books and journals to China and 1 million to Southeast Asia.

. . .

The need is enormous. In China alone, more than 1,000 university libraries and 3,000 reference rooms need collections of English language teaching and research materials.

Why English? Because it is the international language of science and commerce, and the primary way of communicating with the West. The importance of English and information encoded in it is proved by the numbers who are learning the language – nearly 300 million, or one in four Chinese.

We seek books, journals and other forms of information, both used and new. Contents take priority over condition. Used books are as desirable as new books, if the information they contain is current and their condition is presentable.

We need college, graduate and professional level materials in all fields as outlined below.

They’ve got a location in Cypress, and they give drop-off instructions if you want to save the cost of shipping/mailing.

In the Greater Los Angeles area, you can either ship your donation by motor freight to or drop off at:

Bridge to Asia
College Book Company
6590 Darin Way
Cypress, CA 90630 

The College Book Company is open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., no appointment is needed for drop off. You can visit Yahoo Maps for driving directions. If you have other questions, please call Alan Nichols at 1-800-421-7736.