Creative methods for finding bookloving homes

Here's a few at the top of my head - please add your own ideas!

1. Bookswapping sites - making sure the inventory is up to date and well publicized.

2. Talk to people in book stores and wherever else you find yourself. Have a pre-printed card with your name, email, and phone number for if they want to partake in your available books.

3. Keep bookloving friends and family in the loop of what you've found and what they may be interested in.

4. Touch base with local charities and book drives - for instance hospitals, children's rehab centers (like Ronald McDonald House), prisons...

Oooh - and sign up for your community's Freecycle Yahoo group! I see lots of books go on ours.

One more then I promise I'm done talking:

Does anyone have any experience with http://booksforsoldiers.com/

Does anyone have any experience with http://booksforsoldiers.com/?

No, but I saw katbook mention hers, on another thread. (Though I forget which group.) I'd wanted to participate, and been worried about shipping costs, since it'd be out of the country/my own reliability. They're not people I'd want to disappoint. Good thought.

Edit: I've been meaning to go scouring for books for my BookMooch inventory again, and haven't done it. Maybe I can find a nice lot of the 'unwanted' for good homes. :) I'll try.

I believe this project will suit your needs: (Please forgive formatting, this was edit/copied from smaller type.) Also, do go see their website, they need money to repair the roof to protect the 400,000 books awaiting shipment.

International Book Project
1440 Delaware Avenue
LEXINGTON, KY 40505
Phone: (888) 999-2665

Days/Hours: This is a mail in program. Please call the site Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm for additional information.

Web Link: http://www.intlbookproject.org/
Location Notes: The following types of books are accepted: dictionaries, literature classics, readers K to 12, literature anthologies 7 to 12, practical agriculture books, and grammar books for all levels. There is no minimum requirement for grammar books or dictionaries, for all other books there is a twenty book minimum requirement. Writing guides are not needed. You may specify where you would like the books to be sent. Local residents may call 859-254-6771 for additional information. Specific questions about book shipments should be directed to: books@intlbookproject.org or call 1-888-999-BOOK. You may sponsor a shipment to an organization like this one or you can select from nearly one thousand organizations in nearly 100 countries including schools, colleges, community libraries, or churches. For only $3.00 per pound you can SPONSOR A SHIPMENT. If you are interested in organizing a book drive or book exchange, please call for more information. This is a mail-in program.

Materials Collected / Services Offered:
Paper:
...Book Recycling
Reuse:
...Book Donation, Reuse
The International Book Project is a non-profit organization that accepts twenty or more copies of textbooks.

Thank you so much, artisan! You don't even have to send them overseas yourself and you can print out a groovy little packaging slip. I bookmarked the site.

That is cool. :) It seems they have a niche though, basically asking for dictionaries and classics in good condition (educational materials.)

We'll have to add it to our list of 'creative things'

I asked bookcrossers for some suggestions and got this link.

http://hartbooks.bravehost.com/3rdworld.html

If you scroll down, you can find examples of books needed for the Primary School. I took this as a sign that classics (generally like those read in the high schools & junior highs here in The States) would be appreciated.

Tucked along one wall of the corridor from reception at my workplace are two bookcases and an honesty box, you can buy any book for 20 pence and the money is given to a local charity once a quarter or so. the turn over is suprisingly high. If you work somewhere with a load of staff why don't you do likewise.

--> I like that idea...especially the charity part.

There is also a "book wall" at one of my local coffee shops in Rockville, Maryland. Anyone can take a used book and replace it with a different book. I sometimes take a book and replace it with a nice copy of a BookCrossing book that I've already read. I've found some surprisingly interesting books there. My last find was a book called The Moldavian Pimp which was based on papers of the author's friend's Yiddish play and is the story of Jewish girls recruited by pimps in the Ukraine who are then promised freedom and a new life...only to find themselves being sold into prostitution in Argentina. Sounded odd to me. To be fair, I did find three other LT members with a copy of this book.

My point is...book exchanges are quite fun!

I do also have to take the opportunity here to mention my rabbi who has taken upon himself a HUGE booksaving project, not the least of which was a 8,000 pound shipment of Jewish books from Rockville, Maryland, to Nigeria.

Newsletter article

the book project

The public is invited to participate, but each person should check with him to be sure that the specific books that one wishes to donate are those the rabbi is seeking.

There are many BookCrossers here at LT, but for those who are not familiar with BookCrossing, it's worth checking out!

BookCrossing

It was a great idea come to life through the creativity of Ron Hornbaker. Books can be recycled either through planned releases or "wild" releases. One of my "used books" has already traveled to 15 states and 7 countries over a period a little over two years. It certainly beats having that book languishing and collecting dust on my bookshelf at home. :-)

a traveling book!

Hi Eurydice;

I've got a post on the other thread in this group about booksforsoldiers. It's a great cause and I like it a lot.

Military addresses are all APO so only need US postage. You can get 3-4 paperbacks in a flat rate envelope ($4.05) or a LOT of them in a flat rate shirt box ($8.80 I think). You do have to fill out a customs form. Media mail overseas goes by slow boat--literally and so can take months to get there.

BookMooch has been mentioned several times--remember you can give your points away to a number of charities there, too. (Myself, with the 118 books on my wishlist along with mooching a few for soldiers, haven't been able to donate there yet--although I have had charities mooch from me).

One of the message boards for booksforsoldiers mentioned that a 10 lb box of books could be sent for under $10 by media mail.

For anyone who lives in the Mid-Atlantic area there is a public service that will take any books that you want to give away and shelve them in their facility for free redistribution.
The organization is www.bookthing.org, the BookThing of Baltimore, which has been doing this for about twelve years now. It is a low budget operation and does nor advertise. They have at least 100,000 books on the shelves at any time and give away 5,000-10,000 books per week.
To my knowledge it is the only such service in the world today.

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Thumbs up for The Book Thing of Baltimore!