What To Do With All The Books?

Hello Seekerville! Annie here. It's been awhile, but if you've followed me on Instagram, my blog or other social media platforms (now deactivated), you know I'm a huge book lover, especially print copies.  In the past few months, I'm under doctors' strong recommendation to de-clutter and downsize my physical home library. In other words, the amount of my physical books is not helping my health.  So what to do? I took some time to do research what to do with a deluge of books. There are actually a lot of outlets for physical books. Let's start with the obvious ones.

1. Read and collect them. 

*image credit: unsplash.com2. Gift to a friend.

3. Donate to the local library. 
Reach out to your local library to see what their policies or limitations are to accept donations.

4. Host giveaways. 
Be sure to giveaways are compliant to local, state and federal laws.

5. Start a little free library. 
For more info, check out the Little Free Library organization website here: https://littlefreelibrary.org/.

If any of the above does not work for you, consider donating to the following places:

6. Salvation Army.
Books donated to a local Salvation Army will be sold at their stores to further their ministry or pass onto people at their various outreach programs like homeless shelters and rehabilitation facilities.

*image credit: unsplash.com7. Local Schools.
Personally, I love this route. I reached out to a local Christian school and donated many of my books which I know will fill their school library or used in their bi-annual sale with proceeds to fund additional programs that had their funding cut.

Check local schools and see if they will accept book donations, and if their are any limitations such as age group, genres or quantity.

8. Goodwill
Like Salvation Army, Goodwill will resell donated books at their thrift stores and use the proceeds to fund their programs.

9. Vietnam Veterans of America
"The Vietnam Veterans of America sells your donated items to private companies by annual bid which generates the majority of the funding to support the local, state, and national programs of the Vietnam Veterans of America." Schedule a pick up here: https://pickupplease.org/about-vva/

10. Retirement Homes
Check your local retirement or assisted living facilities. They usually have a small library that provide reading material to their residents.

11. Kids Need to Read
"Kids Need to Read works to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children." Find out more on their website: https://www.kidsneedtoread.org

*image credit: unsplash.com12. Operation Paperback / Books for Soldiers
These two non-profit organizations solicit volunteers and donations to send books to our domestic and oversea military. For more info, check out their respective website (linked above).

13. Reader to Reader
"Reader to Reader, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to expanding literacy and learning opportunities for the nation's most chronically underserved and vulnerable communities, including inner-city schools, Native American reservations, and poor rural towns." For more info: http://www.readertoreader.org


Did you know there were so many ways to share your love of books and your actual books? How do you share your books? 

In conclusion, I would like to share a box of books with one US reader! Just leave a comment below and a winner will be announced in tomorrow's WE!





Annie is proud to be one of the founding stewards of the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat (CFRR), the first readers' retreat of its kind, and the cofounder of JustRead Publicity Tours. She loves all things book and bookish, and most of all, Jesus.   You can find her at @justcommonly on Instagram.