What's your preferred way of deacquisitioning books?

(I continue to be bemused by that odd library term.)

Do you prefer to haul heavy boxes to the library, force old treasures on friends and relatives, stuff Little Free Library boxes, or what?

Oh, dear, please pardon the typo in the subject line.

ah hahahaha

oh i didn't even notice.

Paper recycling bin. Yes I'm a monster.

I away my books by taking them to the Friends of the Library and letting them get new homes through sales.
(Unless they are old textbooks or so tattered that even the friends shake their head. Then they are recycled.)

I'm covering my eyes and creeping away from this topic.

Seriously — up till now, supermarket bookswaps and at least one Little Free Library. Neither seems to be possible in Oz.

The SPCA and last month's church fete have done well out of a forced DOWNSIZE. Some small boxes of Africana packed for an auctioneer.

The local Oxfam bookshop or the local Sense store for books Oxfam won't take (some old programming books). Which reminds me, I guess I ought to have a cull soon - I've picked up a few ebook replacements.

Obviously, that's for mass-market paperbacks. Hardbacks tend to be another matter; they are potentially sellable - they can go to eBay.

Mostly Little Free Libraries when I remember 1. to bring the books and 2. where the LFLs are. I've taken to keeping a reusable grocery bag of books in the back of the Jeep pretty much all the time. That way when a LFL appears and I actually register it, I can stop if I have time. I never take anything out of said LFL. No. Never.

Oxfam bookshop, or if I'm feeling lazy, the leave-a-book, take-a-book shelf at the station. Occasionally, if I think it fits with our collection, I donate books to the library where I work.

First step, see if any of my family or friends want them. Second step, see if an LT friend is particularly interested in that subject (if it is a valuable or good condition book). Third step, Little Free Library if we are doing one or two books at a time. If we have a box, they go to the Friends of the Library.

Any book which is particularly loathsome in either condition or content is recycled.

I have sold a few books on eBay, and I would probably do so again if I had a rare book which might catch someone's eye. Mostly I find it too much trouble. I managed to sell a book printed in the 1940s about placer locations in California for about $60 on eBay. That surprised me.

Should have added - RPG items go to the bring and buy at the convention we go to. The last 4 trips just about paid for themselves for tickets and accommodation.

Mind you, that well is now running dry... Most of the duplicate physical books have been weeded out apart from personal Kickstarter editions. Now it's a case of do we keep a physical copy when we have the PDF?

Whatever's convenient. I give some to friends if they're interested, we have a couple of Little Free Libraries in the neighbourhood, a nearby public library branch that accepts booksale donations, and there's always Goodwill. Very occasionally, if something is of particular value, I'll take it to a used book store, but mostly that's more trouble than it's worth.

A long time ago, I gave a huge donation to the University of Alberta, who were building a collection of science fiction and fantasy for research purposes. Got a very nice tax receipt out of it, too. I think they've cut back on accepting in-kind donations though :(

I am with >5 haydninvienna: on this topic. I find it too odious to even think about. These are my friends we are talking about. These are the ones that comfort me when times are tough."Deacquisitioning", what a word; even the spell-checker does not like it.

Used bookstores. I weed fairly often because I don't have a lot of space, and since the libraries around me are pretty inaccessible and the collections aren't what I read, it gives me more money for more books.

Cleaning out my mom's house, I took about 25 shopping bags of books to my town's Friends of the Library, which has several sales every year to support the Library.

>13 pgmcc:. Librarians prefer the term deacquisitioning because the general public goes a bit bonkers when the activity is described as weeding the collection.

Personally, I either pass things to the local little Free Library at our church, to the library for the Friends Sale or to the local Goodwill store.

I also hand friends bags of books that are tailored to their general reading tastes...

Weeding sounds like you're getting rid of books that are common and undesirable

Put me in the same camp as >5 haydninvienna: and >13 pgmcc:. The only time I do this is when I have duplicates. Those I try to give away to relatives and friends.

>5 haydninvienna: I know of at least 3 LFLs in nearby parts of Sydney or across my commute. More in other suburbs. Not that i ever take anything from them, oh no no.
Can't speak to the rest of the country, haven't travelled much for a while. I'd expect plenty in Melbourne at least.

Nobody's mentioned fire yet. Go figure.

>19 MrAndrew: "Nobody's mentioned fire yet. Go figure."

At the convention I go to, there used to be a ceremonial immolation of a particular supplement considered particularly bad... I still have a copy in my library.

Usually I accept that even if I hate a book, there may be others who would enjoy it, and I release it to find it's reader.

However, there was one book (Lord Foul's Bane if anyone cares) that I hated so much I put it and it's sequels in the recycle bag. I think I only got about 40 pages into it. I know lots of people who said it was worth getting past the first bit but I just could not do it.

In my professional career, I oversaw the downsizing and closure of several libraries, and consigned thousands of books to the recycle bins because we couldn't find new homes for most of them. It's harder with my own books.

>21 tardis:
I read Lord Foul's Bane. I also read the five sequels. It was those six books that convinced me never to waste my time reading books that I did not like. I hated The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever. I completed the first book thinking it might get better. I finished the first trilogy thinking it might get better. I read the second trilogy thinking it might get better. I have written about these books at length elsewhere and how much I hate them. It was thanks to these books that I have no issue with not finishing a book that is abhorrent. I may have burned these books. I felt they were contrived to permit the protagonist commit an absolutely heinous act, and then do it all over again. I suspect we have similar views on why those books are abhorrent.

>21 tardis: You and I seem more and more like the same person.

Have to say I don’t deacquisition much. If I acquire a better copy of a book that I have had for many decades I transfer the old retainer to my vacation home. But if a book is surplus to requirements and of no sentimental value I donate it to the annual fundraising book sale at my alma mater. If I suspect its condition may lead to its being rejected for the sale, then I slip it into a local LFL. Very occasionally I feel a book should not be passed on, full stop. Then it goes into the recycling bin. But all these are always just dribbles.
Apropos of “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” I have discovered that the annual used book sale can find a buyer for any number of copies of Love Story and Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

The more expensive books that I want to get rid of, I sell on amazon. Cheaper stuff I usually donate to charity stores, or put them into those Little Free Library things. Some books that I consider unworthy of even existing or too embarrassing to donate, I throw in the trash. I have very rarely given books to friends, but that is because I am almost never getting rid of anything that I think anybody I know would want. I would love it if I could give books away to people who seemed like they would want them.

As I get older, I think about donating some of my more valuable and interesting books to particular libraries or archives. If I want most of my books to find new, good homes, though, I think I will have to put them for sale online myself. Lots of them deserve to survive; a few of them almost surely will (unless they are destroyed by fire or water or mold or something), but I worry that most of them will not...

Due to space restrictions, I deacquision any book that doesn't go with a series, or fit in my groups of books, that was an ok read, but I won't read it again. Most of them are donated, because as >21 tardis: says, just because I didn't love it doesn't mean someone else won't enjoy it. That even applies to some of the books I hated. However, there are a few, which I will not be responsible for inflicting on anyone who is unsuspecting. A couple of cookbooks come to mind. A lot of the books I donate are books I actually enjoyed reading, but they didn't trigger the "Oh my God, I must have access to this book forever" response.

There are books on my shelves that it is not likely I will read again, but they serve an emotional need. Either the story was lovely and I remember it when I see the book, or the time and place I read it or purchased it was special and I remember them when I see the book. Sometimes it belonged to someone I loved, and I remember them when I see the book. My bookshelves are about a lot more than the stories they contain.

>26 MrsLee:
“My bookshelves are about a lot more than the stories they contain.“

That is a lovely thought.

I relocated a few months ago. In an effort to make the move easier and take care of a sustained need, I deaccessioned 800 books over the previous several years. Some were older paperbacks that hadn’t held up well. Many were books I had acquired many years before in a shameful exercise of promiscuous book gluttony. When the decision was unclear, the standard was “Were I to read this book again, would I read this copy?” Some stayed only because I couldn’t bear to impose the death penalty.

I took most of them to GreenDrop, in the hope they are honest when they claim they will arrange for them to be donated.

Now the 4300 that made the cut have to be shelved. That has to wait for the built-in bookshelves to be completed.

>28 stellarexplorer: “Shameful exercise of promiscuous book gluttony”? Sounds like something one might be forced to confess to in a self-criticism session under Stalin or Mao. Surely it was more like one of Alfred Doolittle’s harmless sprees, “bringing enjoyment to ourselves and employment to others.”

>29 booksaplenty1949: Surely there are different ways to characterize. But there was a time when I was going to library sales and coming home with boxes and boxes of books - of course my reflection is now colored by the fact that since that time I’ve come to value a more minimalist home design style….

>30 stellarexplorer: I’m into maximalism myself.

>31 booksaplenty1949: Cool - I should have sent you the 800 books! ;-)

Last week I read a children's adventure book (The children of Castle Rock, for the curious) which I enjoyed and have passed on to my 8 y-o goddaughter as I think she will enjoy it. I love to get the next generation hooked on reading.

>31 booksaplenty1949: So am I!

I donated many boxes of books before I moved, and still need more shelving to accommodate what I have brought with me. I think I might have to say goodbye to several 100 more. My new library will only accept one box per week. :o(

>28 stellarexplorer: "exercise of promiscuous book gluttony"

I love this. And I left out the word shameful because I have always had every intention of reading what I brought home...

>2 Meredy: I fixed the typo. :o)

>36 clamairy: Oh, thank you! That was not one of the superpowers I knew you had.

This thread reminded me to put some books in the car since I knew I'd be right at the LFL in our tiny downtown yesterday (seriously, we have ONE stoplight in the whole town). I didn't take any out, but four went in. Yay.

>35 clamairy: I have always had every intention of reading what I brought home... Well, we all share that mindset. It's only three, five, or ten years later when you look at the cover on something or the marketing blurb on a dust jacket that you kind of wonder what in the name of sense was I thinking? Usually, I mutter something to myself on the order of "oh, yes, that was during my period of thinking about.." but that thought may not be sufficient to save the volume from the re-home book-box.

>39 jillmwo: No, I buy a lot of books for the cover alone. It may never be read because I have already read one of the other copies I own, or it may be a book I give the Tag “Unread/unreadable” to distinguish it from those on the “To read” pile. A recent acquisition of this sort was The Squaw Man. Besides the politically incorrect title and a photo of the title character in the silent movie version of the story the cover inexplicably features a swastika. I like to imagine my heirs puzzling over these things.

>40 booksaplenty1949: Well, I'm chortling over what you're planning for your heirs and, after some thought, I can agree as well to some extent with what you've said. I have purchased and held on to books on the basis of the artwork inside (and sometimes on the basis of what's on the cover). Like you, I may already have read a specific text before but own more than one edition of it. In #39, I was thinking more particularly about books I have purchased thinking it would be a worthwhile read down the road, but then have begun to read it and discovered it was just boring. Or the interest of ten years ago just is no longer an interest.

>41 jillmwo: Yes, the bookshelf can certainly reveal itself as the boulevard of broken/discarded interests to those with an eye. Or a book bought years ago with the idea “Someday I must find out more about X” turns out, when that “someday” finally comes round, to have been rendered obsolete by subsequent research or new interpretations.

My biggest issue is that I rarely read paper copies of books anymore. I have become addicted to using my Paperwhite. So in a lot of cases I'm keeping the physical books around to remind me to read a Kindle copy. Also, just in case there is a zombie (or other kind of apocalypse) I want to have plenty of books to read.

>43 clamairy:
Oh Clare, thank you for that. I never thought of using s zombie apocalypse as an excuse for my book collection. Thank you. I must use that one next time my wife rolls her eyes and says, “What; another book delivery?”

Okay, so just how elitist of a group might we represent here on LT? Look at some stats about American ownership of books...See: https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/47712-how-many-books-americans-own-and....

Note this covers collections of both ebooks as well as physical copies.

Elitist? Nah. Different priorities. I wonder how many of the non-book people have gaming systems, big TVs, multiple streaming services, new cell phones, etc. Hell, even homeless people have those last ones.

But about organizing by color...crazy!!!

>45 jillmwo:
Very interesting.

The factors affecting the number of books own all look intuitively correct. One trend I have found here, is that the housing shortage in Ireland and the ever reducing size of houses and apartments is another factor that affects book ownership. People who would have more books by the educational and income factors mentioned in the survey are reluctant to acquire physical books because they simply do not have the space to keep them. We still have tons of our offsprings' books in our house because their accommodation is too small to cater for them. The exception is our daughter in the US who has a massive house by Irish standards and could take her books with room to spare, if it wasn't for the expense of shipping them across The Atlantic.

>46 Bookmarque: I should have said "elite" rather than "elitist". (Full marks to Karlstar who previously pointed out the error in my usage on the post on my personal reading thread.)

>47 pgmcc: Storage space is one of those aspects of ownership that currently troubles all libraries. There's just not sufficient room to keep the volumes on the shelf. And if you get rid of specific titles, then other aspects of collecting and maintaining an archive come under discussion.

>48 jillmwo: As Peter said, storage is not just problematic for libraries. We're lucky in that we have a converted garage used as an office which houses the bulk of our library, but we still have bookcases in most parts of the house including hallways and the attic.

The physical library is slowly diminishing as we get hold of cheap electronic replacements. A great boost to downsizing was our move in 2015 when we culled duplicate titles and books that only one of us would ever read (which reminds me I need to do another pass on my romance titles).

My problem is that I got into the habit of keeping books because replacing them would be nigh impossible given my SFF titles were usually imported from the US and not available in the library. Lately, it's because there are no legitimate electronic copies available to me. (Have I said how much I loathe geo-restrictions?)

>47 pgmcc: We think of downsizing here, and my husband assures me that the walls can be lined with books as they make excellent insulation. ;)

>50 MrsLee:
I like the way your husband thinks.

>50 MrsLee:, >51 pgmcc: Hear, hear!

>50 MrsLee: That's awesome! I shall start using that explanation as well.

>53 clamairy: And those exterior walls are already load bearing😁

>35 clamairy: On reflection, I think I meant shameless rather than shameful. Not sure if that goes down any more easily :)

>45 jillmwo: Fascinating. I would love to see a prospective study: take young people in various in book ownership categories, and see if ownership predicts future income. In other words, what comes first, affluence or bibliophilia? Does early love of books confer an income advantage later in life?

too many confounding variables!

>56 stellarexplorer: Haha, I think I can say for a certainty that book ownership did not create affluence in my family. On the other hand, my grandparents, parents and myself are firmly in the middle class, which could be considered affluent, depending on where you are looking at it from.

>58 MrsLee: You could certainly argue that the most important distinction is enough vs not enough. In any case, I’d love to see a larger sample size!

>57 reconditereader: No doubt. Just wondering aloud. So to speak.

>56 stellarexplorer: Oh, if I had only put the money I had spent on books into a savings account, the compounding interest would have made me rich!

>61 2wonderY: Ah, but reading the books you become rich in wisdom!

>62 hfglen:. That's right. Wisdom, wisdom, I've got lots and lots of wisdom. My house has books crawling up the baseboards on all sides, but I'm really one of the wise witches. Maybe I should forego the jeans and sweatshirts and start dressing like something out of Shakespeare's Macbeth. (OTOH maybe Terry Pratchett would be a better choice.)

>56 stellarexplorer: In most cases bibliophilia is related to education level—— that of your parents, who read themselves and encouraged that habit in you, and/or your own educational achievement. The play The Corn is Green reminds us that at one time there were significant class barriers which prevented even bright, motivated working class youth from getting a university education. They were the market for privately-funded “working men’s libraries” and ultra-cheap editions of classic texts. Now that market has pretty much dried up. Of course not every educated person likes to read for pleasure, but I would assume that most people who read for pleasure, especially those who assemble permanent book collections rather than simply relying on the library or acquiring/disposing of light paperback reading, are educated. Hence the correlation with higher income.

>64 booksaplenty1949: I’m sure the factors you mention are significant. My own family home was filled with books; I learned to love books and reading from a very early age; the first piece of moral instruction I recall from my mother was “Books are our friends”; I vividly recall at around four following my mother around the library, where she took me weekly, and all of a sudden the strange symbols coalesced and I kept repeating in a loud voice, “Mommy, I can read! I can read!” The joy!

So to be clear, I was reacting to Jill’s survey, and suggesting some additional studies that might enhance the results. I have a hypothesis about what would be found. This would be interesting, even though we all have our experiences which inform us on the topic.

>61 2wonderY: Yes, certainly. The books don’t seem to hold their monetary value, and the dividends are not in my bank account! And yet, who is truly rich?

>61 2wonderY: There are many many books published in our lifetimes that sold for ten dollars or less that are now worth $10,000. Had you had the foresight to have the author sign them, you could double or triple that figure.

I have always dreamed of a library in my home but I've also never dreamed to own a home so alas, I must downsize sporadically. It's so bad that most of my moves tends to be books rather than anything else and I don't let others help me move those boxes... my roommate and I are so bad that sometimes we just give each other the books lol. But they're not in my room and I didn't buy hers so it counts?

I also like the free libraries for donating. In New Mexico before we left the state I just carried some on each walk or bike ride until I found a new one. In Michigan I did a dump at good will because I donated ... ahem ... 500 books.

I'm not ashamed to say that I'm back to still double lining and stacking books in my bookshelves. Or creating more spaces for books.

And to the latest topic of the thread... I have always been this way but having a past in academia... sadly the books were not indicative of my future income lol. Having a new career tripled my salary and I like to think books are a large part of my overall success as a person.

>67 booksaplenty1949: How do you find out which books are worth something? I have some books that are older than I am, and that's getting to be a lot.

>69 Meredy: For each book:

Call up the Book Details page on LT (Your books > the file card icon 2nd from the left among the 5 on the right at the book record)
There is a quick links panel near the top on the right of the page.
I find the link to Abebooks useful. If you click on that you can get a list of who's selling it where for how much.

For a moderate to large number of books this is time consuming.

>69 Meredy: Alternatively, look up your book on ebay and check the recently sold values for what people are actually paying right now.

>69 Meredy: Age isn’t much of an indicator. A paperback first edition of Lolita (1955) goes for $1000s. ABE regularly publishes a list of its most expensive recent sales. Many are books from the 1940s to the 1970s, or later. Key is scarcity and condition of the book and the dust jacket. “Signed by author” can also add value.

>69 Meredy: I use an ISBN search on bookfinder.com as it searches across multiple platforms, (Amazon, eBay, Abe Books, Biblio, etc, etc).

>69 Meredy: I use >73 ScoLgo: method, and I generally rule out the most expensive and the least expensive of the results. >71 Narilka: also makes sense, because in the end, the book is only worth what someone will pay for it. I have a first edition Dr. Seuss book, but the condition isn't pristine. Didn't even get a bid for it on eBay. It depends on what people want.

Not a single bid you say? Not on a train, or even a plane?

>73 ScoLgo: >74 MrsLee: Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of bookfinder.com, I usually went directly to abebooks.

>75 MrAndrew: Not on a box, not with a fox!

My local library constantly gives away books for free (usually they're donations they didn't have any room for); I'll often walk in and see boxes of free books lined up near the entryway. So I usually just come with a reusable shopping bag full of donations. Haven't done this in a long time though, since I borrow books far more than I buy them.

I have released some into the wild through Bookcrossing.

I have installed a new bookcase in the hope that books which did not fit in the previous new bookcase will finally find a shelf after languishing in boxes for far too long. I arrange my books, other than mysteries and a few other categories, alphabetically by author, so I am taking this opportunity to integrate new acquisitions currently lying on their sides above the books they should be standing next to. It’s a long job. I had hoped that in the process I would find a few books to donate to annual book sale I volunteer with or a Little Free Library, but so far (Aa-Bu) only one candidate for deacquisition.

I prefer to hand my books to someone who will assuredly appreciate them.
I’ve resorted to having a tempting box when people gather. I’ve brought individual books to class and announced it.
Donations to libraries are much more satisfying when the person glances inside the box or pile and makes sounds of surprise and pleasure. A bookstore owner paid me the compliment of saying my offerings were eclectic and buying them even though it “wasn’t the season.” I’ve puzzled over that phrase.