Comments on: First & Washington

By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 20:00:08 +0000

I donated some (undamaged children’s) books to the PTO thrift shop last month, and I saw them on the free shelf at the downtown library the very next week. I know they were the same books, because they were distinctive. Perhaps the shelves were too full for mine to go through the process described in #7.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 19:33:21 +0000

It is difficult to get used books into the right hands. Some books fit into the “long tail” category – very precious to just a tiny micropercentage of the population and useless to the majority. I was disappointed when I placed some technical books with a local book reseller and they were never put up for sale on the Internet but rather cycled to the ReUse Center. They’ll probably be tossed instead of ending up as a valuable classic on the right shelf.

The PTO solution sounds like a good one, since used bookstores are the place for seekers to find such books. I’m pleased to find that they take that extra care.

By: Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 00:27:25 +0000

For anyone who's interested, here's a link to the Little Free Library website: [link]

By: bear

bear — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 23:12:27 +0000

that’s a good idea, Jeff. I know that is what Kiwani’s difficulty is with their books and other merchandise.

Glad to hear the comments of so many people

Yes, A free library stand is a great idea also! I’ve seen some of them and pictures of others from other places! That is a great way to circulate books, teacherpatti!

By: Jeff Hayner

Jeff Hayner — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:55:32 +0000

At Ann Arbor PTO Thriftshop, we have set a policy for timing out donated books from the shelves if they don’t sell. Books, and all of our other merchandise, is tagged with date stamps, and we periodically go through and clear the ‘timed out’ books to keep the supply fresh for customers. There is only so much shelf space to be had. After books time out and are pulled, they are bundled into boxes which we sell at greatly reduced bulk prices to book dealers and others, who find homes for them as start-up and filler materials for used book stores in other cities and countries; or as someone suggested, as donations to libraries, hospitals, reading programs, etc. Books that arrive damaged, or don’t sell through our discount process are recycled. A peek behind the scenes of a thrift shop would reveal just how many books there are in this world – it’s a wonder there are any trees left standing.

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 11:30:34 +0000

Remember Afterwords, the book store? I used to find some really great books in their trash.

By: TeacherPatti

TeacherPatti — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:29:10 +0000

I keep meaning to buy one of those “little free library” kits. I would totally put discarded books in it to give them another chance to find a home :)

By: bear

bear — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:17:51 +0000

But that was also a reason to put it on stopped, watched, to generate conversation about it in the comments section. To see what ideas it might generate. Maybe nothing, maybe something, it was worth the effort.

I’ve found useful items there. I don’t keep early hours often, so I don’t make it to Kiwani’s sales often, waking up about the time they’re finishing up for the day!

By: bear

bear — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:14:59 +0000

Perhaps they could reach out to places like the U of M hospital or the VA for books and perhaps arrange with an organization to give stuff to the people who cannot afford to purchase much other than food/rent for their use.

It just seems a waste to let it all go to waste. I know some people investigate the dumpster to see what they might find that they can use or find someone who can use whatever they retrieve.

BTW, i lent the book to a friend to read and I’ll read it when she’s done with it. She was really excited about it, especially after checking out who the author was.

By: johnboy

johnboy — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 07:08:52 +0000

Kiwanis really does throw out a lot of good stuff but they just don’t have room to store it. If it doesn’t sell it goes into the trash. I estimate that at least half of what is donated to Kiwanis goes in to the landfill.