# What to do with old paperback books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026 "2002-10-13T01:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/1 "2002-10-13T01:55:55Z")
I have about 150 paperback books. Mostly sci-fi/fantasty stuff. Since I haven’t touched them in years, and I could use the shelf space, what can I do with them? (Other then the fireplace, please). And E-bay is too much of a pain in the arse, for what I’d get for them. Do libraries accept book donations? Salvation Army or St. Vincent DePaul maybe? What ‘charitable’ group would take them? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/2 "2002-10-13T02:05:27Z")
Only 150? Our library accepts book donations for their annual book sale, as does our local Literacy Volunteers. I also drop off an occasional box of mass market paperbacks at Goodwill. I have never felt that the effort of selling paperbacks is worth the return. Always document what books you have donated (I just keep a database) and be sure to claim their full value as a charitable donation. Some years I have claimed twice their value, but only when I needed just that little more as a deduction. ---
**Author:** ![Nihility\_Arise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nihility\_Arise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nihility_Arise)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/3 "2002-10-13T02:09:17Z")
Donate them to a second-hand store. Donate/sell them to a used book seller. Drop them off at a high school, middle school, homeless shelter, battered women’s shelter, etc. Yes, libraries sometimes accept used books. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/4 "2002-10-13T02:46:12Z")
Libraries _sometimes_ accept them - but realize they will probably end up either tossed or sold in their next book sale. Goodwill sells books. Nursing homes sometimes take them (as I learned from **Osip** ) so that their residents have something new to read. Depending on where you are, there may be a used book store that buys them for either cash or trade credit. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/5 "2002-10-13T03:05:26Z")
I just leave them where I finish them. Usually in a cafe or someplace like that where I read while eating or drinking coffee. Of course if you’ve got 150 it’s too late for that. Goodwill will take them. Who cares what they do with them? We do have a bookshelf in the break room at work, but that many would be a bit much there too. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/6 "2002-10-13T04:22:53Z")
If they’re nearly new, a used book store might buy them for about 25% of the price posted on them. But they’d only buy the ones they felt would turn back over quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/7 "2002-10-13T04:53:33Z")
I take mine to a used book store for 1/2 credit on other used books. e3 ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/8 "2002-10-13T06:14:49Z")
Thank you all for the suggestions! I will give the local library a shot. If not, I will find a used book store somewhere. Thanks again to all. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/9 "2002-10-13T07:00:51Z")
My local animal shelter takes them and holds an annual book sale to raise funds for the shelter. Other than that, I’d have to agree with everyone else. Goodwill, nursing home, or used book shop. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/10 "2002-10-13T10:33:53Z")
Dress in a futuristic Fireman’s outfit and burn them with a blowtorch… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bloody\_Pollyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@Bloody\_Pollyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloody_Pollyanna)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/11 "2002-10-13T11:10:15Z")
[www.bookcrossing.com](http://www.bookcrossing.com) is nice. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/12 "2002-10-13T12:30:42Z")
Depending on where you live, various charitable organizations often have book sales, and are happy for donations. For instance, around Chicago, the largest by far is the Brandeis Book Sale where proceeds go to Brandeis University. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/13 "2002-10-13T13:37:24Z")
Yes a few months ago I got rid of close to 5000. I took a few boexes to goodwill, a few to SA a few more to a thrift store at the humane society, more went in a friends yard sale, a treatment center and most of the mystery books to nursing homes. I do not recoment burning them, throwing them out is no fun either. Find somewhere where people can use them and have access to them. Books given to libraries tend to get resold on the cheap. But, the funds go towards the library which is not such a bad thing. I have a nice sum I can deduct now from my taxes. Your amount of course will be less. Just pass them along to someone who will use them or ofer them to people who would enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/14 "2002-10-13T14:18:53Z")
Paperbacks can be recycled here, though why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. If some of your books are too worn to be donated, I second **mangeorge** ’s idea of bringing (some of) them to work. We have an informal book swap - just a file drawer where people can drop off and pick up books. I’ve found some good stuff in there. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/15 "2002-10-13T16:20:24Z")
I want to reitterate some of the posts above. There are plenty of human service organizations–hospitals, shelters, psychiatric facilities, etc.–that could use your books, either to raise funds or to give directly to their clients. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/16 "2002-10-13T16:51:32Z")
Also, when you say “old” the question becomes “how old?”. If you’re talking mid-'70s forward, yeah. Donate 'em to hospitals, shelters, etc. If you’re talking pre-'70s, (especially the '50-'60 period), with Powers or Freas or Gaugahin(sp) covers, you might have some valueable stuff on your hands, and you’d be better off doing some research on their values. It’s silly to donate a $200.00 book to a shelter as reading fodder, when you could sell it to a collector and use some of the money to buy a bunch of non-collectable books for the shelter. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/17 "2002-10-13T21:23:53Z")
I guess I’d give preference to hospitals, shelters, prisons, as suggested by Shoshana. Here are problems with donating to libraries. If anybody can see a way around these, speak up? 1. Our local library sells books for $1-$2. It’s a big library, always a hundred plus people there. I asked the reference librarian how much money they made every year. A couple thousand dollars a year. Does that even offset the cost of storing the books and holding the sale? They weren’t sure, and neither was I. 2. My buddies happen to run two of the big local secondhand bookstores. They go to library sales, Goodwill, etc., with empty cardboard boxes, and leave with full boxes. Those books are then placed on their shelves for several times what they were bought for. So Goodwill and the libraries are just getting a fraction of the real value of the book. ---
**Author:** ![JayElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@JayElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayElle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-old-paperback-books/132026/18 "2002-10-13T22:52:39Z")
We started a book exchange at work. You bring in your old books, dump them in an agreed location, then browse for some interesting material to take home. We’re a bunch of reading junkies with limited budgets, so we’ve had an excellent response to the program. Plus, it’s interesting to see what your co-workers bring in - “why I never knew Bubba liked romance novels!”