Where do all those old books go?!
A Rainbow of Books, by Dawn Endico, on Flickr
The library generates a lot of used books. We buy lots of new books each year, which means a bunch of old stuff has got to go.
People also like to donate books to the library – boxes and boxes of them! Many of these aren’t in the sort of condition we require.
So what happens with the thousands of books that we need to get rid of each year?
Well, there’s a couple of things that happen. Some of our used books go to the fabulous Friends of the Library, who sell them in their thrice-yearly book sales or on the 50 cent bookshelf in the library. Some books aren’t in any condition to be sold, even for 50 cents – those ones get recycled.
The Friends also go through donations for books that can be sold online for more money – things like first editions, signed books, and other items that are special in some way. This venture is called Benton Books, and you can read more about it here. Benton Books sells on Biblio, Amazon, Alibris, and AbeBooks (just search for Benton Books as the seller). Since January 2005, Benton Books has raised over $30 000 for the library!
All of this is just one example of the amazing support the Friends give to the library. Thank you Friends! You guys are awesome. 
Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian
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