I am pretty sure that you can safely burn graphite. I could be wrong, but I think you have to heat it to, maybe, a few thousand degrees before you have to worry about the whole carbon bonding and creating carbon monoxide problems.

But, the burning thing makes me think that they would be cute when glued around a little votive candle holder. And, the letters are so cool.

I can hardly believe that you end up with stubs, though. The pencils are our library are just terrible. Not sharpened well when they arrive and nearly impossible to sharpen on our dinky, public sharpener or on our nice electric one.

Books, magazines and audio media, both donated and out of circulation, that cannot be kept for the book sales and lobby sale shelves are put into a box in the vestibule for people to take for free. I have many books that I have been meaning to read, several that I have used for crafts and a neurology journal (that shows up regularly, as the doctor is finished with them) that I enjoy, but for which I am too cheap to buy a subscription.

We even have a few regular and reliable patrons that will bring in a book or two and add them to the free box.

It is only the occasional donation that is too far gone to recycle, but we do that, too.