For many organizing clients, books are one of the hardest things to part with. Story books are often associated with childhood memories; they might want to read their favorite novels again someday; and they just never know when they might need to look something up in one of those non-fiction books! You can use your skills as a professional organizer to help them see the benefits of letting go, and to guide them through the decision-making process, but then what? What to do with all those books?!?

After you’ve helped your client identify which books they no longer need or want to keep, there are many different ways you can help those books find a new home.

Trade Books for Money

Sometimes it can be a little easier for a client to part with his or her books if there’s a financial incentive, and there are a number of options, both online and offline. The best method for your client will depend on the type of book. It will generally be much easier to find a buyer for recent popular fiction than for scholarly tomes!

Online classifieds sites such as Kijiji and Craig’s List are a popular choice because they’re free, but because they’re organized geographically, it may be harder to locate a buyer with an interest in a particular subject. In some cases, sites such as Amazon and Half.com, which have a broader reach, might be more effective. Fees are paid only when a sale is made, and your client won’t have to deal with phone calls or email inquiries, so it could be worth receiving a lesser amount for their books.

AbeBooks, Powell’s Books and other sites will actually buy books which they can then resell. Your client generally won’t make as much money this way, but it can be worth it if they want to get those books out of their way quickly and spend less time on the selling process. You can use BookScouter.com to find out who will pay the best price for any given title.

Those who prefer to sell offline can advertise in newspapers or other publications read by people who are apt to be interested in the books they are offering. If the books are of general interest, a yard sale or garage sale might be a good way to get rid of a lot of books (and other unwanted items), as long as they’re not expecting to receive top dollar for them.

Trade Books for Books

Avid readers might prefer to trade the books they’ve read or decided not to read for new titles. Used bookstores will often give credit for books that are brought in that may be used to purchase other books. This can be a great way to continually stock up on new reading material while clearing out the old.

Bookmooch is an online community for exchanging books with other members. You or your client can sign up for a free membership and type in the titles of the books they’re ready to part with. When someone wants one of those books, they’ll contact you. One-tenth of a point is awarded for each book entered, and a full point for each book given away. You’re responsible for the shipping cost, but additional points are given if you send the book to another country. It costs two points to receive a book. If your client really doesn’t need any more books, their points can be donated to one of several charities.

Trade Books for Warm Fuzzies

Many charities will gratefully accept donations of books and other items which they can sell in their thrift stores to raise funds. Janet Hall’s How And Where To Discard, Donate, Sell, Or Recycle Anything: the Ultimate Directory for Professional Organizers to Help Their Clients includes a list of organizations accepting donations of books and other reading material.

Depending on the type of book, you can also check with local schools, libraries, day care centers, literacy associations, or other organizations, to find out if they can make use of any of the books.

If your client wants to know exactly who is getting their treasured books, they might prefer to list them on Freecycle.

Book Crossing offers another unique option. Readers sign up for a free membership, and before “releasing” a book, they register it on the site, then write the Book Crossing ID (BCID) inside the book. They then leave the book in a public place to be picked up by someone else. The finder is supposed to go to www.bookcrossing.com and record a journal entry on that book. I certainly would not recommend this to anyone with a large quantity of books to dispose of! Between the time it would require to enter them into the system, and the creativity of finding unique places to leave them, it wouldn’t really be a practical solution, but it’s such a unique idea that I couldn’t leave it off my list!

Assisting your client with this next step of the “letting go” process can be an optional service for which you charge a fee, thereby increasing your earnings while providing additional support to your client. Or you may prefer to include it as part of your organizing service, to enhance the value your clients receive. Only you know what is best for your clients and your business.

If you’ve disposed of books using any of the above methods, how did you find it? Please share your good and bad experiences, as well as any other recommendations, with other readers.

Photo © Janet Barclay