Have you ever rescued books from the recycling bin and why

Discuss whatever your heart desires, just be civil. Posts made in this forum do not increase new members' post counts.
Post Reply
User avatar
Leylandyiu
Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Oct 2017, 01:38
Currently Reading: Unf*ck Your Habitat : You're Better Than Your Mess
Bookshelf Size: 9
Reading Device: B00K81O3K4

Have you ever rescued books from the recycling bin and why

Post by Leylandyiu »

Dear all :

I have found a whole bunch of books recently in Switzerland lying around the trash and I can't just let them go waste like that :roll2:

Here's what I have got so far:

- Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher, Christian Frobenius (Editor), Jay: Asher, Christian Frobenius, Asher Jay
Paperback, 360 Pages, Published 2010

-Tsotsi (Main Edition)
by Athol Fugard
Paperback, 256 Pages, Published 2009

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Film Tie-In. Edition)
by Stephen Chbosky, Stephen: Chbosky
Paperback, 240 Pages, Published 2012

-Morality For Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) (Tie-In Edition)
by Alexander Mccall Smith, Smith Mccall, Smith Alexander Mccall, Mccall Smith Alexander, Alexan Mccall-Smith
Paperback, 256 Pages, Published 2003

-Island of the Blue Dolphins (Reprint Edition)
by Scott O' Dell, S. O'dell, Scott O'dell, Scott Odell, Scott O. Dell, Williamscott Odell Strauss
Paperback, 184 Pages, Published 1971

-If I Stay
by Gayle Forman, Gayle (Usa) Forman
Paperback, 272 Pages, Published 2010

So why do you think people throw away books in seemingly good condition :shock2: leave your thoughts below :wink:
User avatar
JD Stanley
Posts: 14
Joined: 22 Feb 2016, 22:16
Favorite Book: Blood Runner
Currently Reading: The Leyden Papyrus
Bookshelf Size: 65

Post by JD Stanley »

Yes! I recently saved a partial Time Life hard cover book series on Mysteries of the Unknown from an untimely fate when someone I know was moving and downsizing.

Personally? I don't understand people who toss away books. Maybe it's because I'm older than the Internet and actually had to use libraries for all my research. Or that I lived through having to wait for over a year or several years sometimes to get my hands on a new book from my favourite author, because books just weren't published that fast back in the day? Or maybe it's because I used to volunteer in the library helping to maintain books? Or that I have children (grown now) whose schools used to regularly beg for more books for their libraries, because there never seemed to be enough funding for that?

I don't know. I think my book buying/acquiring history differs greatly from people getting into books now who can just download them. Since it's that experience that shapes their perception of them, they don't see the same value maybe? They're missing that whole having to go out to buy them, the expense that used to be involved, that you actually had to go to a special store to find one, and had to go to an even more special place to use special books, because you couldn't get them anywhere (like research books at the library), etc.. Even if I'm done enjoying one, I could never throw one away. I make sure to pass it on to someone else to enjoy or find a place to donate it to that's looking for them.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE electronic books and the ease with which they can be downloaded. It's fantastic! Trust me, here in Canada when it's snowing your brains out in winter and difficult to get around and I'm jonesing for a book fix, there's nothing better than just being able to download one instead of braving going out in a blizzard - totally not complaining! But at the same time, I do think that ease and lack of the whole "special" experience around getting one into your hands does change people's perception of their value to them. So easy to acquire, so very easy to throw away, y'know?

:twocents-mytwocents:
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5771
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

JD Stanley wrote:Yes! I recently saved a partial Time Life hard cover book series on Mysteries of the Unknown from an untimely fate when someone I know was moving and downsizing.

Personally? I don't understand people who toss away books. Maybe it's because I'm older than the Internet and actually had to use libraries for all my research. Or that I lived through having to wait for over a year or several years sometimes to get my hands on a new book from my favourite author, because books just weren't published that fast back in the day? Or maybe it's because I used to volunteer in the library helping to maintain books? Or that I have children (grown now) whose schools used to regularly beg for more books for their libraries, because there never seemed to be enough funding for that?

I don't know. I think my book buying/acquiring history differs greatly from people getting into books now who can just download them. Since it's that experience that shapes their perception of them, they don't see the same value maybe? They're missing that whole having to go out to buy them, the expense that used to be involved, that you actually had to go to a special store to find one, and had to go to an even more special place to use special books, because you couldn't get them anywhere (like research books at the library), etc.. Even if I'm done enjoying one, I could never throw one away. I make sure to pass it on to someone else to enjoy or find a place to donate it to that's looking for them.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE electronic books and the ease with which they can be downloaded. It's fantastic! Trust me, here in Canada when it's snowing your brains out in winter and difficult to get around and I'm jonesing for a book fix, there's nothing better than just being able to download one instead of braving going out in a blizzard - totally not complaining! But at the same time, I do think that ease and lack of the whole "special" experience around getting one into your hands does change people's perception of their value to them. So easy to acquire, so very easy to throw away, y'know?

:twocents-mytwocents:
@JD Stanley

I totally agree with you and I can identify with much of what you've said. I also have nothing against electronic media, but there is just something about holding a book in one's hands that, to me, is more satisfying than holding an e'reader. I suppose 1200 years ago the same could be said for scrolls and perhaps the current Millennials will someday say the same thing about e'readers. Also, there is something neat about having a couple of walls filled with books both to serve in terms of functionality as well as home decor. Though most of my library is in my home office I have four bookshelves in my living room and I think it gives the decor a more elegant look than it would have without them. I mean, my living room would look considerably starker with a lonely e'reader sitting on a shelf despite the fact that it might contain an entire library of books *L*.

I also agree with your assessment in regard to "value" perception. A book is the thing in itself, a stand alone repository of what the author wanted to say. I view e'media as more of an appliance and in my case it actually does seem to diminish the value of the content. I'm sure that this is just a subjective opinion; after all, the real value is in the content rather than the mode of presentation, but holding, for instance, a copy of a Dickens novel in my hands rather than an e'reader makes me feel closer to the author and the story ... nuts? .... probably, but that's just the way I feel. Does not having the actual book diminish the value of the work in question? I suppose that would vary with each individual's feelings.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
User avatar
JD Stanley
Posts: 14
Joined: 22 Feb 2016, 22:16
Favorite Book: Blood Runner
Currently Reading: The Leyden Papyrus
Bookshelf Size: 65

Post by JD Stanley »

@DATo

I think you may be correct about the perception of books vs scrolls 1200 years ago and that we may be going through a similar perception shift now with eReaders vs books. I'll go kicking and screaming through that transition and no one can convince me otherwise.

And yup, I whole-heartedly agree with you about how they appear, just the sight alone, filling up bookshelves. But it's not only the look, do you think? For me, it's also the heft of them in the hands and the smell of the pages and the way the pages sound when you turn them and that throaty 'thunk' when you close a particularly chunky hardcover. Or is that nuts? Hmmm... maybe better not to poke at that one. :eusa-think:

An admitted bibliophile, I only feel secure surrounded by stacks and stacks. I also collect antique books, save them from obscurity at garage sales, people's curbs and second-hand stores. Aside from the content of those, which is fabulous and can instantly connect you with a different time where a different rhythm reigned, the look of them in a glass-doored case makes me feel... transported elsewhere maybe and makes stress vanish. I get weird when I'm away from them and think it's my secret mission to save them all when they're tossed away.

We should start a club. Y'know, a book saving... sort of... club... Wait, isn't that the library? :techie-studyingbrown: :P :
Post Reply

Return to “Community & Off-Topic”