One my strong beliefs that I have usually always tried to follow is to NOT
give my outdated, old books to groups or organizations (shelters, homeless,
overseas, poorer schools). This stems from the belief that if the material
is considered unusable in my school library, then why would I want to give
it to other children to use? What message am I sending to these groups who
receive my worthless materials?
There is a definite difference between selling outdated or older materials
to individuals who WANT the materials (used book stores, antique stores,
craft stores, etc.) and donating outdated materials to a group that needs
quality library materials. I'm sure that many of us have received donations
from individuals or groups who truly believed that we would excitedly accept
their 1970 World Book Encyclopedias in 1990 --- especially if we've worked
in smaller or poorer school libraries. Luckily I had policies in place to
discard those items that I couldn't use---and we used the pictures in
remaining books--if we could-- for art projects.
Instead of donating these outdated materials, I have tried to choose
materials that are fairly up-to-date (newer titles, duplicates of formerly
popular titles--- such as our Bluebonnets nominees in Texas) and donate the
excess titles that aren't circulating but are still within 3-5 years of
copyright date to other schools or organizations. Because these books would
be useful, I don't feel that I'm donating worthless materials. However, I
am always fighting teachers who want to send my 1950 science books to some
foreign country's library. Instead, I will usually discard the books
without much fanfare and try to remember to send the newer titles to them
later, instead. When asked about these books, I generally tell them that I
want to educate ALL children not place them at a disadvantage especially
when they usually already are. I don't get much response from that
statement.
Just my thoughts.
~Shonda Brisco
Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian
Fort Worth, TX
sbrisco021@charter.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Johanna Halbeisen" <johanna.newsong@RCN.COM>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: SHARE: New life for used books CAUTION
> Our Mass school library list had a discussion about donating books
> overseas and the following letter was posted.
>
> World Library Partnership
> Inform the World Program
>
> Book Donation
> Think Twice Before you Donate Books
> Have you ever stared at a pile of old school books and
> wondered if someone, somewhere could use them? If so,
> the thought may have crossed your mind to send them
> off to a developing country. Surely that would be
> better than throwing them away=D6
>
> Perhaps not. My colleagues and I have first-hand
> experience with the problems caused by book donation
> in several countries. Here are some things to consider
> before you give your books to a book donation agency
> or ship them off to a developing country:
>
> Are there hidden costs? In many countries, the
> recipients of a book shipment must pay customs fees,
> port taxes and other charges. They must also pay to
> transport the books from the port of entry to their
> final destination. These costs can often be more than
> the books are worth!
> Are the materials in good shape? Books that are
> outdated, damaged and worthless here are going to be
> just as useless abroad. Remember that books also mold
> quickly when shipped by sea.
> Is the information useful? Rural African schools with
> no electricity don't need books on microwave cooking
> or skiing, both of which we have seen on library
> shelves.
> Are they in the right language? I know of a library in
> South Africa that got an entire shipment of moldy
> books in Czech.
> Are the materials culturally appropriate? Many books
> written for US audiences have cultural references that
> make no sense abroad. They may even be offensive.
> Romance novels, which seem to be popular donations,
> are distasteful at best to many Africans.
> In addition to all these points, it is important to
> consider that book donation can actually HARM school
> libraries. Many schools do not allocate funds for
> books because they hope to get them donated. If the
> donated books are a huge disappointment, this kills
> support for the library.
>
> Book donation also takes business away from indigenous
> booksellers and publishers. I cannot stress enough the
> importance of local publishing. Africa is information
> rich, but book poor. Without more African publishing,
> huge areas of knowledge will be lost. Entire languages
> may disappear. Every dollar spent on buying books in
> Africa helps to ensure that African authors will be
> able to publish their work in their own countries.
>
> An alternative use for your old books would be to sell
> them and donate the money to a program that purchases
> new books for schools and libraries in developing
> countries. The World Library Partnership runs a book
> certificate program that enables African libraries to
> purchase books at the Zimbabwe International Book
> =46air. This gives the librarians the opportunity to
> choose what they purchase, thereby ensuring that the
> materials will match the needs and interests of
> library users.
>
> If enough people ask, book donation organizations may
> even change their policies and start purchasing some
> materials abroad. When you consider the costs of
> shipping, you can often get a lot more books for the
> buck by buying them in Africa.
>
> Laura Wendell
> Executive Director
> The World Library Partnership
> 3101 Guess Rd. Suite D
> Durham, NC 27705
> 919-479-0163
> http://worldlibraries.org
>
> At 1:09 PM -0600 11/2/03, Susan Uthoff wrote:
> >On Tues., Oct. 28 "Hints from Heloise" was promoting a new website to
> >encourage people to recycle used books and keep them out of landfills.
> >Her webpage has links to various organizations that accept books. Since
> >this question comes up on the listserv from time to time, I thought I'd
> >pass it along. http://www.adoptalibrary.org/
> >
> >Sarah S. Uthoff
> >Reference Librarian
> >Kirkwood Community College
> >Cedar Rapids, IA
> uthoff@infionline.net
>
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