Another 40 Hours of Decluttering Using Flylady's Timer Method: July-August 2019

[NewGig]

Chicken lady, the books ARE frustrating. I've been doing this so long I am throughly SICK of it for one thing. For another, although my Mom was a bookseller (and Dad a book collector, how they met), the internet completely destroyed our long-term plans re the books. It used to be that you could augment your income by selling books. I know of people who set up their porch as a bookstore and made a few $100 every now and then, for years. That model does not work now. Our other idea was that we'd sell the shop. That won't work now either. So, instead of income, it just became a drain and major pain.

But we had $1000s into it when I closed the store in 2005 and I'm really stubborn, so I kept trying this or that. But I've had it now.

[Gardnr]

But we had $1000s into it when I closed the store in 2005 and I'm really stubborn, so I kept trying this or that. But I've had it now.

I've no idea where you live. Portland OR has a store named Powells https://www.powells.com/

They buy used books. Might be worth some investigating. Some $ is better than no $.

[iris lilies]

I am starting to downsize most of my book collection. I have identified a few that I think are worth a little bit of money, and when I say a little bit of money I mean $10-$30. Those I donate to the local collectible bookstore. I don’t ask for any money I just take them there.

I check Alibris for anything I think might be worth a little something something. If there are copies listed under $10 I don’t bother with it to the bookstore, I will donate these to a general books sale or maybe pitch them in the dumpster, I’m not sure which.

My important book collection is children’s illustrated books and I have a smallish but nice collection from the golden age of children’s illustration, 1880 to 1920. I also have volumes from the 1970s through about 2009. That is when I stopped collecting. I’m using Marie Kondo as a guide and if when I pick it up it doesn’t spark joy, it’s going to the bookstore.

For book buyers the Internet was a godsend. I started buying collectible books back in the day when they were sold thru vendor catalogs. I looked forward to catalogs Arriving in the mail and I used to pour over them. Then I remember when the Internet came into being, well before it was graphical, And I remember reading stock lists and want lists via a web crawler.

One of the coolest small world coincidences back in those days was when someone wanted a specific music book. It was Out if Print. There were only about 100 people on this collectible book exchange list from across the world, but I happened to know the author of that book because he lives in my neighborhood. He’s a well respected writer of academic works about music. So I gave the searcher his address so she could write to him because probably he has a few copies around.

[Gardnr]

If you are truly dumping them, please dump them to the library system.

[iris lilies]

If you are truly dumping them, please dump them to the library system.

Uh, my library system, a large urban library, does not accept donations.It isnt cost effective for them to take in thousands of other people’s stuff.

There are smaller charity booksale around here, I just have to decide if I want to drive these books around in my car. It is not an attractive thought.

Having been intimately aquainted with disposal of books for decades,
I can assure you that hundreds of thousands are “recycled” i.e. dumped regularly.

[Teacher Terry]

A thrift store wanted ours and picked them up since we had 40 boxes and other things.

[Gardnr]

Uh, my library system, a large urban library, does not accept donations.It isnt cost effective for them to take in thousands of other people’s stuff.

There are smaller charity booksale around here, I just have to decide if I want to drive these books around in my car. It is not an attractive thought.

Having been intimately aquainted with disposal of books for decades,
I can assure you that hundreds of thousands are “recycled” i.e. dumped regularly.

Near big cities, that sounds reasonable. In a rural state, there's not enough money for a constant supply of books. They will spread them around to small community libraries.

[Tybee]

Additional 1.5 hours spent purging dried herbs, removing old seeds from pods and labeling in new envelopes for storage, burned old financial ledgers.

New total 2.5 hr

[beckyliz]

Saturday I spent a couple hours decluttering and reorganizing our tools and the shelves in the laundry room. Stuff had just been tossed up there over the years - things like leftover bits from putting furniture together, etc. Found a bucket with sidewalk chalk. Had to be 12 years old, if not older.

[Chicken lady]

30 minutes.

16:40