book swap, anyone?

mummiedearest

Mon, May 26 2014, 8:16 pm

I have a lot of books in my house. some just sit there. is anyone interested in a book swap in the brooklyn area?

for those who don't know how this works: everyone brings books they no longer want. all participants can browse through the books and take what they want. all participants go home with new books and whatever books they brought that no one else took.

seeker

Mon, May 26 2014, 9:07 pm

I would want to participate but I think it's much better if you DON'T have to take back what doesn't get taken. They can be donated to whoever takes used book donations. That would save a ton of hassle, and enables people to come and go instead of having to commit to staying the whole time, also lets you organize/display books by type/age/genre/etc without worrying about keeping track of whose is whose. That's what we do when we have our neighborhood toy swap, people drift in and out and at the end of a couple of hours (whatever was prearranged) the very wonderful, kind organizers cart the remains to a charity organization that wants them. It makes for a great swap because people bring more things knowing that it is for charity, so you have a great selection of things to choose from and despite that there are still plenty of great things left for the donation.

mummiedearest

Mon, May 26 2014, 9:45 pm

seeker wrote:

I hear you, and I think it would work wonderfully for toys. however, the brooklyn public library does not take many donations of books these days (if they take them at all). used book stores will only take certain books, and that wouldn't be a donation. I don't know of any org other than the library that would be interested in used books. I assume all left over books will end up in a recycling pile or sold online if they're in reasonable condition. there's really not much to do with books other than swap them. I would like to give everyone their own area to pile their books. everyone can rummage and socialize, and I'd call it for an hour or so. not such a long time once you're schlepping books anyway. if you don't want to schlep a ton, bring five books that you think someone will really want, and plan to leave with five others. no one has to bring their whole bookshelves.