# What should I do with my old encylopedia? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856 "2008-07-26T17:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/21 "2008-07-29T01:35:47Z")
I have a few encyclopaedias from the 1920s. They’re worth it for the illustrations alone. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/22 "2008-07-29T02:03:01Z")
I’ve a set of 1930 and 1966 World Books. They’re fun to page thru. But my E. Brittanica from 1984 is pretty worthless. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/23 "2008-07-29T04:53:01Z")
I have a set of 1955 World Books, which I read cover-to-cover when I was a kid. Every so often I look up a subject that I know has changed a lot, like astronomy or medicine or geography. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/24 "2008-07-29T11:47:33Z")
I have a 1926 Book Of Knowledge, full set. And I adore them, the illustrations are wonderful. They were sold to families on the installment plan, one book coming every couple of months. So each book has a smattering of everything, instead of how such books are laid out now. They are very interesting to look through. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/25 "2008-07-29T18:24:32Z")
I remember reading about a charity that sends outdated textbooks and references to poor schools in Africa. Older books were okay, because they had _nothing_ otherwise. So, outdated medical techniques and technologies were actually okay. It also gave the student the chance to practice English, which was a huge advantage for them. I remember that you had to pay to ship the books to whichever American port they went to, but I can’t remember the name of the charity. Does anyone remember this? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856/26 "2008-07-29T18:45:10Z")
[QUOTE=ladybug] I’m a little sad to report that mine ended up in the recycling bin. I couldn’t find anyone who would take it. Even my mom the packrat told me to get rid of it. So I did. It’s too bad I couldn’t find anyone to take the set off my hands. I’d much rather have given it away. [/QUOTE] My dad (who instilled the “never deface a book” rule in us…which I guess tossing books falls under) was a little annoyed when I told him I dumped it. I told him I had far more current info in my computer. That annoyed him even more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-my-old-encylopedia/457856.md?page=1)