New Homes for Old Books
This article was featured in Library Notes #55 (August 2009).
In the April issue of Library Notes, Jim Shedlock, Library Director, wrote about why the staff weeds the library’s collection. In this article, Kurt Munson, Head, User Services explains what happens to those withdrawn books.
Withdrawn books are often a challenge. While book sales at the library provide an opportunity for the Northwestern community to purchase weeded books, only a small number are sold. Books are difficult to recycle and we want to avoid dumping them in a landfill. Selling books online involves considerable effort for minimal return. This is where a new company called BetterWorld Books comes in.
BetterWorld Books will process, sell and discard withdrawn books for libraries (and it will also pay for shipping). In June, the library shipped three pallets, amounting to roughly three tons of discarded books, to BetterWorld Books. BetterWorld Books sorts the books received from the Galter Library and adds the saleable ones to its online bookstore where anyone can buy them. If a donated book sells, the Galter Library receives a portion of the profits. On behalf of the Galter Library, BetterWorld Books also donates a portion of the profits to Books for Africa, an organization that provides shipping and distribution of books throughout Africa. Charity Navigator, a charity reviewer, awarded Books for Africa its highest rating of four stars.
What happens to the books that cannot be sold? They are recycled but unfortunately books can’t just be dropped in a recycle bin. The covers and the spine of the book have to be removed and the binding which holds the pages together needs to be cut out because it contains glue and possibly other things such as thread, cloth, plastic, or metal. The equipment required to prepare a book for recycling is expensive and rarely found in libraries.
All in all, BetterWorld Books provides the library with a win-win situation. Books that we no longer need can be made available to others who might want them. The library gets some financial return, charities get the resources they need, and we know our discarded books are not going into a landfill.
