Do You Donate?

What do you do with all your books? Do you keep them all? I wish I could, but I just don't have the space. I wish I could even keep most of the ones I like but alas, I can't. I live in a 2 bedroom flat and I just do not have the room. I only keep books that I enjoy enough to re-read. My sister has a library in her house. Yes, an actual library. With floor to ceiling shelves and a fireplace. I wish. I'm not that lucky. So, I need to do something else.

I've been donating to the library pretty frequently.  I did a little research and asked if they get very many donations. They said they didn't get any. Well then, my local library seemed to be the perfect place. I went a step further though and asked if they had a Teen program. They don't. They have a Teen Space with YA books and a cool bar table to sit at, but that is it. I've been working with the librarian on a teen program. I've been donating my ARC's for the teens to keep as well as loads of books to put into circulation. The Teen Program (T-Space) will start in March with my books as prizes! I can't wait!

In the past few months I've donated over 100 books. It feels great! Libraries are getting their funding cut left and right. What's worse is that people just aren't using the library anymore. They are buying their books for easy convenience. I get that. I love to buy books on my Kindle, but it is so important for me to borrow books from the library. If I don't,  they will cease to exist. Do we want that? So, I'm going weekly to my library with my son and we're borrowing books. We're using the facilities and enjoying what they have to offer.

Funny story, my husband and I moved to Scotland 3 days after we were married. My husband is NOT a reader. A few days after being in Scotland my husband LD needed to send a fax. He went into work and waited in their copy room for over an hour--while I was in the car--to send this fax. I was livid! I couldn't even come up because his building was a locked facility. He didn't take his phone either. So, I sat there raving and wondering why it was taking so long. When he came out he said he had to wait because the fax machine was tied up. I asked him why he didn't just come back down and we could have sent the fax from the library. His response, "You can't send a fax from the library!" My response,"Are you crazy?! Of course you can!" We then had a discussion about the library. LD didn't believe me. I wondered if he'd ever had a library card in his life. The next morning LD woke early and headed out. I was still asleep. He came home and woke me up saying,"Did you know you can use the computer at the library?! You can even print stuff off! They have a fax and you can rent movies too!" I just looked at him. "OF COURSE I KNEW THAT! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!" He got himself his first library card that day. Do you know what your library has to offer?

There are many different ways to donate your books. Here are just a few ideas:

• Talk to your local librarian and see if books are needed. As well as what programs they are in need of help with. 
• Adopt a classroom. Many junior high and high school English classrooms need books! The kids need something to get excited about and teachers are using their own funds to create a library for their students. See what you can do! 
• Pass your books on to friends and family. When I find a book I love I just rave about it over and over. Why not pass that book on to someone else? There's just one rule, when they are done they need to pass it on to someone else to enjoy and they have to do the same. Keep it going! 
• Donate to your local charity shop. They can sell them to make money for the charity they are supporting. People love a good deal on used books! I can always find a hidden gem.
• Give them away on your blog!! Everyone loves a contest and to ship a book in the USA (domestic) media rate is about $2.50. Not bad! 

So, tell me what you do.  How do you donate? Or are you keeping all those books?