Back when I was in Texas.... I noticed one of these in a local parking lot...
and, needless to say, I was intrigued.
Of course that immediately lead me to the almighty Google...which led me to Better World Books. And that lead me to see if we have any of these fabulous dropboxes in my area. Sadly, the answer was not close enough. This needs to be in every parking lot across the country. I wondered WHY I lived in such a backwater, hick town that WE didn't have these in our local parking lots.
This program, according to their website:
"All books are transported to a local distribution center operated by Better World Books. Our goal is to extend the life-cycle of the book through reuse. Books in good condition are listed for sale online on marketplaces such as BetterWorldBooks.com or donated to literacy partners. Books that cannot be sold or donated are recycled and converted into pulp for new products such as brown tissue, cardboard, or even new book covers. We never send books to landfills."
As I continued to peruse the site, I discovered if you, or I, would like to donate used books but there aren't any convenient dropboxes that you can still donate those extra books that you'll never read again (granted, there are those that we love and will NEVER get rid off, but there are always those that didn't intrigue you enough to keep) AND they will pay for the shipping. How fabulous is that?
Of course, I was already weepy enough, but this whole idea brought a tear of happiness to this bibliophile's eyes - as I don't have the space to keep all of the books that I buy and knowing that my donation will help promote literacy...well, it left me verklempt. (am I the only one that remembers Mike Meyers doing "Cawfee Tawk"?)
Then the other morning, I was driving by and noticed one of those fabulous green boxes in a local parking lot!!
Hmmm, so maybe this little city isn't quite the backwater, hick town that I thought. Apparently, we are "growing." And, in this little way, the growth isn't so painful. Now, if we are talking about the new highways that are going in everywhere and ruining the charm and idyll of the area...that is a little more painful.
We have several book drops here, including one at the dump. The books benefit local charities, although I'm not sure where they go if they are significantly damaged. Funny though, when I clicked the link, it seems there are these boxes about 45 minutes from here. Not that I head in those directions often, but it's good to know just in case I'm ever in need of heading that way. :)
ReplyDeleteYou'd be shocked at what gets thrown in the recycle bin at the school next door! Hubby has brought in a number of books, one (a novel) was still in a wrapper. Beautiful cookbooks and even a boxed set of instructional books. All were thrown away!!!
ReplyDeleteI used to take all my used books back to the bookstore where I bought them, and they would buy them back. Or donate those they couldn't sell to the book sale at the local library. Now almost all of my books are borrowed from the library or on my Kindle. I'll look for one of these, though, around Bellingham. :-)
ReplyDeleteNot seen those here, what a good idea! I donate ours to the library or charity shop but just the other day I saw boxes of used, good condition, books dumped by a derelict church on the school run - makes you wonder if the dumper might have used a recycling unit if it was available
ReplyDeleteI love this.
ReplyDeleteWe also have, in many neighborhoods in Minneapolis, tiny little libraries. They look a bit like bird houses, although you can make them look like anything you like, with little glass fronts and doors and you can walk by them and pick up books people have put in there to share.
Reading is an art -- and a joy. :-)
Pearl
How awesome. I'll have to see if these are in Oklahoma yet. I have lots of books to donate.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really good idea, here in Latvia we have one day in the year 22.03 this year where we can swap or donate books at library :)
ReplyDeletehttp://steinhardlive.blogspot.com/