Swapping and Donating Books

Hi
We have a small shop selling Crystals and all New Age products. We have recently started a book library whereby people can donate books for others to borrow for donation of 50p, per read. This money then goes to buying further books that people in the library decide they want to read. Instead of paying lots of money and reading them once this allows more unfortunate people to be able to read “light” booksand pass on the knowledge.
Kind regards jennifer Marshall

Hi.
I have an attachment to books as well. I just love my books! However, I very rarely ever re-read them. There are just some I will not part with, but when space becomes an issue I will decide which ones take priority and then sell the others.
Warm regards,
Cindy

I belong to several groups online,so as I release my books, I post them on group for anyone who needs them. Whomever needs the book pays shipping. It works all around.

There is a web site where you can register your book and then drop it off at a location to be picked up by whoever finds it first. It is sort of a neat way to both release your books you don’t want, and connect with other readers in your community and online. It is called Bookcrossing.com. Check it out.

Depends on the type of book but 99% get donated to the women’s shelter or 2nd stage housing. Figure some of these women might be like me but have left their collections behind and/or get something needed fro m the reading.
Just moved and the movers counted 20 boxes of books/magazines. Might be time for more releasing here.

I too have a very hard time with loaning out my books. If it is something that I am very interested in, I usually will end up reading them again at a later date. I just did that this past weekend and it was so clear that I certainly miss some things the first time around. I actually put an address label inside the front cover with Please return to the Library of…….. I don’t think it all has to do with being selfish, because I love to have a conversation and the light bulb goes off saying, you may like to take a look at my book about……I just like to get them back so that I can lend them again. The only problem is now I really do have some books that are out of date and I have a problem throwing them away. I just can’t do that.I am also a little over crowded. Sure know where you are coming from.

I donate my books to the local Veterans Hospital. I was shocked when I was there with my husband and saw the lack of book and the condition of the books.
A local half price store filled my trunk up several times with bags and bags of books for them. Tax deduction for her and books for them. They could also use your magazines—espiecially the mens sport and outdoor ones.

ah letting go of books, i have collected about 700 of them in the last couple of years and they have become my babies lol. Send some my way if you want. No actually sending them to a prison might seem like a good idea, or how about a woman shelter, if you have any healing books, might get them on their healing journey.

…one of my children is currently in jail (again) and I would certainly encourage giving books of the spiritual nature to those who I can fairly well guarantee have rarely been exposed to books, let alone those of a higher vibration. I’ve asked my own minister to give a copy of her book to the jail in my home area… and hope this idea swells their available space as much as the population is.

Being a “Hedge Witch” I have collcted countles books on healing/herbs and Spirituality in general. We have a “circle” of friends that we pass our books around to so that they find their way “home” periodically. They are also passed on to our children and newcomers. I like the idea of sharing them with jails or prisons as suggested. I’ll pass that idea onto my friends and family. Have a Peaceful day-Bella

I take mine to a used bookstore, where I receive credit against future purchases.

I’ve had the same experience as Phylameana with loaning books. And I feel very protective of them as well.

I started to gather metaphysical/spiritual/Native American books with the hope of someday opening a place that loans out only that type of book. I’ve found so few available in libraries and not everyone can afford or want to purchase them. But, like Phylameana, I’ve recently come to believe I have too many and plan to donate some to a library used book sale and some to a used book store for credit. However, the idea of the bookcrossing mentioned here I want to check out as well.

I give my books to the local library where they sell them for .25 or.50 each. The money they make is used for children’s programs, so it is a win-win for everyone.

I am surprised I didn;t see this on your list of comments- I sell my old books on Amazon.com. I make a little money doing it. There are some books I would never give away or sell- but i have become adept at releasing those that need to go.

I too, am a collector/hoarder. I usually give my books to a local library for their used book collection which they in turn sell for fund raising. This is a small tourist town that specializes in lite beach reading for summer and more intellectual in winter.

I do like the Amazon.com idea though.

Hi, I too love my books and have 1100 unread at the moment, eeek! I send books and magazines in a box several times a year to a friend who can’t afford them, I have emailed children’s books to a teacher for her Native American kids in New Mexico, I sell many books on Amazon, and I give books I’ve read (or bought twice or not read) to friends as gifts.

When my daughter was small and we went through books at a rather rapid rate, we used to go to a place called “Grandma’s Chair”. They would take your old books in exchange for “new” books. As my daughter grew this allowed her to learn how to read on her own because there were always new books and it never became dull for her. She LOVED going every two weeks to “buy” new books with her old books. It was an amazing system and even though my daughter is grown, I still donate books.

I connected w/ a person associated w/ a library in NM where donated books are used on the mobil library circuit that travels to remote locations throughout the state. I love that my New England ‘released’ books are finding a new life in the arid southwest!
~gp

I originally tryed doing http://www.bookcrossing.com, depending on the type/topic of the book the concept only sometimes worked. Seemed like a lot of work: you registered your book and received an ID # to write inside. you had to also write a note explaining that you had set the book free, to take it home and let the website know you found it, read it and release it.

The ultimate if everything works is that you can forever watch the progress in traveling your book makes. Mine? Some places threw out the books if you left them there. Then a trend started that people would search the site for books and want you to MAIL the books to them.

I currently pay it forward. Try to find someone that would like to read the book. but ended up with a pile by my door after a while.

V3.0 I just started offering extra books as part of trading for craft goods online. I tell them what I am looking for, what I have in exchange. They either like what I have or don’t. Some simply send me stuff without taking my book. Just to do a good deed, as they know money is super tight for me.

I take them to the local community library – funding for libraries seem to be decreasing and books are so expensive – not that I can afford to buy as many as I used to and I do hang on to them for some time and re-read my favourites but eventually they end up at the library except for ones that specially touch me