rhett

I see that you say, “Get rid of any book you’ve read, don’t plan on reading or referencing again, is in the public domain, and can be found in its entirety online. That’s right, I’m talking about ditching your Dover copy of The Scarlet Letter.”

I do agree on the idea of getting rid of a lot of books. But I disagree that the online public-domain option is any good. For many purposes, it probably is; but for many other purposes, it simply is not. For several reasons.

Reason 1. The online edition might not be a decent edition. There’s usually no telling which of many versions of a text gets into print (there are HUGE discrepancies among the various versions of Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” from within his lifetime, for instance; imagine what happens AFTER he’s dead!), and so a typical edition in paper-print will TELL you what’s there and what isn’t and who made the decision. An online edition generally doesn’t have that apparatus with it. So, you might read Shakespeare’s Sonnets and discover that you ended up reading the one edited by the homophobic who believed Will was actually Raleigh, and yet you’d never know. It’s risky to accept editing from a silent editor.

2. Online is a pain in the butt. I don’t LIKE reading on-line. You waste paper by printing it back out again, which is both environmentally unfriendly, and counter to the purpose of reducing. Many things which you think are accessible on-line are actually just PRINT-able FROM on-line. Keep in mind which of the two you’re likely to perform in the future, when you consider whether or not to get rid of your non-on-line copy.

Anyway, aside from those caveats, I approve of the idea of recycling books. Other readers can enjoy them just as well. I try to buy nearly all my books used (here’s how: use the ISBN and Google, or use BookFinder.com). The words don’t tend to fade out through excess eye grindage …

By the way, one of my books - a photo essay called “The Americans” - netted me a bid from mybookbuyer.com for $40!!!

Thank you for such a great post. It’s easier to unload the books emotionally when I know they have a home.

@Mark - Productivity501 That is a good point that you made. It would be really nice to have a sort of culture of reading in our home. Actually have good books around to read would help with that. But I’m not convinced that this is the only way to create that kind of environment.

@Ed Seems like a good idea to donate books rather than just waste them.

Published date after 2001
Novels of historic importance
In shape that a classroom could use them

They pay for the shipment of your book donations, so it is important that books received can be used. When unacceptable books are received they make the cost of doing business more expensive which reduces the amount of money that can be used to promote literacy causes.

Your books, when received, will be assessed to decide the best use for this contribution. Books are either
Donated directly to students in need in Africa, Asia or in high risk communities in the United States;
Sold to generate needed funding (especially for the actual shipping of books once collected) for groups such as Books for Africa, Room to Read or The National Center for Family Literacy;
Recycled to ensure that no book is ever thrown away where it will likely end up in a landfill.

More info at http://www.campusbooks.com/bookdonation.php

We are also looking for potential volunteers who would be interested in going with us to Ghana to help in this amazing endeavor.

Thanks for helping me to see my “righteous purchases” in a new light.

I’m going to assume, however, that your concert posters are rare. That to replace them would be a difficult task. Your concert posters would be like a signed, leather bound, original copy of The Scarlet Letter. So, if you read the above article, you would know that I would not recommend giving away your concert posters (or your highly personal copy of the Scarlet Letter).

And here is mybefore and after attempt to downsize books in my overly cluttered office. I gave about 8 boxes of books to two local libraries, and pretty much boxed up the other half of my collection and put them in garage. I think by the end of the year I might get rid of those as well. It’s hard to let go of books, but I decided that I had read many of them and others I would probably never get around to reading in my lifetime. So it was time to let go.