So Many Books, So Little Time

One of the hardest areas to declutter is the bookcase.

If you were brought up loving books, it seems disrespectful – almost sacrilegious – to dispose of them.   Nevertheless, if we don’t keep our book collections at bay, they can take over the house.  Nothing makes a room look more disorganized and unkempt than an overloaded bookcase.

Luckily, there are some excellent options for getting your books into the hands of people who will appreciate them.

If you would like to make some money on your books (and who doesn’t!), try Cash4Books.  Simply type in the ISBN number and find out right away if they will buy your book.  Most of the books they buy are published in 2006 or later, so you won’t be able to unload everything there.

If Cash4Books isn’t interested, try eBay.  You’ll get the best price if you bundle a bunch of books together – for example, 4 books on the same theme, or 3 books by the same author.

Two other sites allow you to exchange books with other book-lovers.

BookMooch enables you to list your available books, as well as to create a wish list of the books that you are interested in getting.  If one of your available books is on someone else’s wish list, they will contact you directly, and you send them the book.  Even though you pay the postage (you can send it media mail, so it’s not expensive), it’s great knowing that a book you no longer have a use for will go into the hands of someone who wants it.

SwapTree works on a similar principle, but also enables you to exchange CDs, DVDs, and video games.

If all else fails, take your books to your local library or to a thrift shop, either of which will sell them and use the money to benefit their programs.