A dumpster full of books..... :(

here's a scary theory.

poverty breeds smart people.

but the mortality rate sucks...

I think it's funny in a scary sad sort of way when the pea tartiers talk about how our schools are so poor at educating america's students, and then cut off all of the funding to improve them...

I like to revisit books too. Sometimes I wonder what in the world I saw in them the first time around. And that makes me wonder about all the ones I got rid of -- they were probably great and I missed it.

I do think there was another outcome. I'm remembering a conversation with a neighbor from the end of last year -- she was all pissed at the school and said how "spoiled" the teachers there were, complaining about the food that the parents delivered during teacher appreciation week, the lettuce was limp, or something. There is some super serious money in this neighborhood and EVERYBODY donates to the elementary school foundation. Seeing the school throw so many books away makes me think the school might be a bit out of touch with the real world.

Don't even get me started....

Have you ever heard of thrift stores?

Good point, there.

They might not be being used at that school, but they could be used at thrift stores, at least those in better condition. Or given to children who might like books.

That is where I buy my books, thrift stores. I have for much of the time for about thirty years, but more so now. For a while I went to art and architecture book stores, which was like riding a speed boat into temptation. But... mostly thrifts.

I'd say I'll kill to get into Powell's books, but that's not true. I'd bring them ice cream.

A lot of you sound very IT sophisticated, and I'm not opposed to the advances.
I'm opposed to the stupidity that is to get rid of readable books.

I agree with you... if there is a school that wants these particular books that can be found without too much effort and can pay the transportation costs.

I doubt there are many schools that are begging for random books. I have heard of schools begging for specific modern textbooks, but random boxes of books aren't so useful (and are awfully common).

My point is that if no such school exists then throwing out these books makes perfect sense.

my thinking is that x million books (xy million? xyz million?) will be either shredded into the paper pulp vat or taken to the dump this year, and there is nothing we can do about it because they are excess. i am not going to get any more worked about about this load of books going to the dump than I am about a particular very nice young dog being put down at the shelter today.....millions of dogs need to die this year and I have no reason to favor this one over the rest. Any solutions to be had will be had at the macro level, for instance by getting back to a reverence for books in this culture. if it were not this load then it would be another load. boomer is emotionally connected to this load making their sad end, but I am not.

edit: we should keep in mind what an expensive disaster it has been trying to keep some of the millions of dogs who need to die alive. this i think gets back to a theme of the GreenWitch.

I think that's a good analogy.

The thing is -- we can't save them all -- books, dogs, kids, whatever. But we can do what we can do, or at least we can try to do something, if we have the resources.

It does make me sad. It isn't the books themselves, really, that make me sad but the waste. I confess that needless waste makes me sad.

I've been poor.

Edit to add: the irresponsibility of "wasting" animals makes me sad, very sad.

The answer is clear then

Get your books spayed or neutered!

the lack of income equality you can do something about, the political system is perfectly set up for that. the lack of regard for books not so much.

the warp and wobble of american life is permeated by irresponsibility.....it make me angry not sad though. asking parents to cough up big money that they can ill afford for books that will be lightly used before they are hauled to the dump under the threat that the kids will suffer irreparable harm if the books are not provided is irresponsible. it is also a lie.

i am just now remembering that in 2001 when i was a volunteer teachers aid for 4th grade there was reading time where the students picked books from a bin. the name of the book was recorded on a computer when a student picked it. points were assigned to the book to value difficulty and length. the teacher told me that books which were not popular were discarded at the end of each year. there was no override for great books, popularity was the only decider.

Hi boomerang.
In your opening post you mentioned wanting to save the picture books in the dumpster & to recycle them for others' use....
Picture books for little kids who are too young for school, who are most likely still too young for computers (whether there are any in their homes or not) ...
That's one of the best uses I can think of for pre-loved books, off the top of my head ... as often those books are read to those little kids by their parents or other adults, well before the kids can actually read themselves.
A great introduction to books & reading & ideas, I think, because it is shared between the generations. And one which I think encourages those young children to value the experience of books & ideas. Before they get anywhere near a school, a computer, or an E-book.

I understand what some people here have said about E-books, etc, being the way of the future, but such technology does not necessarily inspire a love of reading ... it simply supplies the material for reading. I suspect that reluctant readers wouldn't necessarily be more enthused about reading a novel via E-book than via a book. I've known known quite a few (older) students who are extremely computer savvy, but not so keen on research, or ideas, or reading online. I think it's the medium that interests such students, not so much the message.

I really like your idea of kids in even the poorest homes having access to a free supply of books at a very young age, same as kids in more privileged homes do.
I like the idea of their parents & other family members playing a role in their pre-school (& pre-computer) education, too. Education begins well before children start school.
.

Actually it can make economic sense, max. Depends on how it's done.
I work (as a volunteer) for a not-for-profit group which sells pre-loved books online. A well-known advocacy group in Oz.
We receive humongous quantities of donated books from the public (you should see the size of the crates in the warehouse!) which are then sorted into 3 different categories: (a) suitable for online sales (b) suitable for opportunity shops (you call them thrift shops in the US) & (c) discards: recycling/pulping of those which are in very poor condition or not suitable for resale.
We sell everything from rare & collectibles, "serious" literature, thrillers, childrens' books, airport novels, art, craft & heaven knows what other categories of books.
Business is going pretty well!
Nothing is considered garbage. Even the "for pulping" books are sold to recyclers for other purposes.
.

HEYA ! LONG TIME AGO ...

Hi there Peppy!
Nice to see you.

Not that long ago.

Poking around this morning I discovered that my city has a children's book bank: http://www.childrensbookbank.org/TheNeedforBooks.aspx

you noted I hope that these folks are very picky about condition....they talk like they want the books to look like new, which is a demand that few books which have been used in a school setting can meet.


http://www.childrensbookbank.org/BookDriveBasics.aspx


the fact that think that they can get away with this demand and still get the mission done speaks to the glut of books which is out there. it also undermines their assertion that there is a desperate need.

the demand might also speak to a determination of how gullible folks are....that they can be talked into going out to buy brand new books for a "desperate need" when the same do gooders will pass up on books with almost nothing wrong with them.

they kinda sound like the officials of this school in question, dont they....

That is a completely different thing MsOlga. Your organization isn't collecting books for schools that need them, the are collecting books as a fund-raiser. The books are a way of earning money (through online sales or through a pulp factory).

This is a very good thing, of course. Raising money is an important part of any charity work. But it isn't about saving the books.

In this model, a book is no different than an unused shirt that one gives to the Salvation Army.