On Weeding

It seems to me that few people really like to weed. I'm not sure I particularly love it, but there is something very satisfactory about clearing the collection of unwanted and unused items. I don't think academic librarians will ever hear the end of comments about how all the books in the stacks are old, but at least we can do our part to weed out some of them.

Right now, we are rather short on shelf space on the third floor of our library. While another row of shelving might be nice, I suspect we can clear a decent amount of space just by doing a bit of weeding. We are focusing first on duplicates (ever-so-affectionately called "dupes"). For the most part, academic libraries do not need duplicate copies of items, especially if they are rarely, or never, used. We are starting with the particularly tight areas, and will then move on to the rest of the third floor.

Then, we'll weed, starting with the tight areas, and finally we'll shift the whole floor.

The project will take a while, but I think we'll see a nice benefit of all the work. I am nearly finished shifting all of the books on our second floor. I've been at it for maybe 2 years, because I can only shift during breaks - the second floor is our only quiet study floor. It's really nice to see all the shelf-space now available in previously constricted areas. I'm sure our student workers appreciate the ease of shelving. Whether anyone else notices, who knows.

And, of course, all our weeded books go to Better World Books. I love their library discards program and highly recommend it.

Best "Your Book Has Shipped" Email Ever!

This cinches it. I LOVE Better World Books. First they take our library discards at absolutely no cost to us and pay us a percentage of the money they make off of selling the books. And they recycle anything they can't sell.

Then, I order a textbook for class from them, using a 15% discount card and saving lots of money over what the book was selling for at Amazon or half.com.

And now, they send me this absolutely awesome, unbeatable "Your Book Has Shipped" email:

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

But hey, enough about me, I've been asked to brief you on a few things:

[insert shipping information, order number, and other details here]

Eagerly awaiting our meeting,

Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology

Better World Books, you made my day. :)

Better World Books Funds Literacy

I got my first Quarterly Better World Books Libary Newsletter today. And yes, that is how they spelled library in the newsletter's name.

Humorous spelling error aside, check out the newsletter and scroll on down to some of the stats. For example, you can see how much they've sold some of the books for and how much they've given to libraries and various literacy initiatives. Those are some nice amounts. They also say they have "Saved over 5,250 Tons of books from landfills." Excellent! :)

Looking to buy a book? Contribute to various literacy programs by buying it through Better World Books.

Better World Books Rocks!

Within the past month, I have set up an account with Better World Books (BWB) for my library. They have this great program where libraries can send them their discards (age doesn't matter, but condition does - see the acceptance guidelines) at absolutely no cost except time. They pay the shipping, provide the boxes, it's incredibly easy!

And it's a great way to get rid of some of those deleted books. They do not take reference books, so we've had to find other homes for those (for those of you who may be curious, furniture stores will often take hardbacks - they use them to fill up the bookshelves that are for sale).

A few more details about what BWB does: they sell your unwanted books and recycle the ones they cannot sell. This is great for us, since book recycling does not seem to be available in our area. If your books are not "picked over" (put out for sale to patrons or offered up to other libraries), 5% of the profit made by BWB goes to a charity of your choice (well, they give you a list and you pick which one) and 15% comes back to your library on a quarterly basis! However, in our case, our books are picked over, so BWB makes all the money.

I first talked with the BWB guys at the ACRL Conference in Baltimore where they swiped my card and commenced contacting me shortly thereafter. They are very friendly and helpful. I have asked about a million questions via phone and email, and they patiently answered them all.

I highly recommend partnering with BWB. It's great to have a better way to get rid of our discards.