Discussions

My children and I went to recycle some boxes by 34th street in Brandon..when they opened the 2 large dumpsters they were shocked go find it filled with hundred of books...the boxes were labeled and I realized that this is where the books go that aren't sold..I realize that these will be recycled and was glad they weren't going to the landfill but I was upset that they weren't taken to the local thrift shops. Or donated to someone in need..there were books that were in great shape and brand new.

Well this is disappointing to hear. I've donated books in the past. Are those bins water resistant?

Could these not be donated elsewhere, hospital, schools, thrift stores, libraries. I'm sure there would be someone who would volunteer to drive them to a northern location and help out.  
 
Is there a program like this in place somewhere?  

I'm sure there would have been many people who would taken those books. Even after the sale they had one hour where the books were free, I know a lot of families who would love that. I have donated many books to this sale and am sad that they can't find something better to do with the leftover books. Isn't there a girl who puts books in Christmas hampers? Could they not donate some to her cause. I really hope they can find a better solution than recycling them.

Can someone from the Rotary club please post on here to explain? I also donate books, but I was under the impression they were stored until the next sale.  
 

Dufresne Furniture does a big book sale 2-3 times a year to raise money for the Children's Hospital. If you want to donate to this cause in the future, just bring your books in a clearly labeled box to your nearest Dufrense store, and they will send them to Winnipeg.

this is extremely disappointing to hear, books should never be thrown away, there are shelters, seniors homes, northern communities/schools that these could have gone to. Shame on you Rotary Club. With this news you won't have to worry about having an overabundance of books at next year's sale, as your donations should be way down. Without an acceptable explanation from Rotary Club I will not be donating to next years sale  
 
Edited by fuzzy slippers, 2015-09-18 09:05:20

I think we should wait for a answer before we jump all over them. They also raise money for a good cause. $ 33,000 this year Just wondering if the books where taken out of the recycle boxes and taken anywhere.

Absolutely love this sale, all of the work that's put into making it happen and all of the generosity that comes from people donating their books in the first place. We got 15 children's books this year for less than the price we'd often pay for one new one!  
 
Assuming that these were in fact books related to the sale, a few points that I'd personally want clarification on before jumping to conclusions:  
- would be helpful in a discussion like this is knowing what specific books we're talking about that went through the whole 5(?) day sale with nobody wanting them at the almost-giveaway prices?  
- this isn't necessarily every single leftover book. Its possible that an assessment was made on chances of particular books being sellable in future sales and that some books were kept  
 
Noticed a comment above about an hour at the end of the sale where anything leftover is offered for free. Is this actually something that's done? If not I think it's a great idea if it jives with any other plans they might have...  
 
 
Edited by Adam, 2015-09-18 09:24:30

Passing along a note from Eric Lawson, the President of the Rotary Club. I feel that it may answer some folks' questions:  
 
 
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The Rotary Club of Brandon receives many donations of books, which we greatly appreciate. We typically have a number of books warehoused at any one time and almost all books that don't sell are returned to storage for future sale. We do occasionally have more books than we can store and so a small percentage, typically books that don't sell well, are recycled if we run out of storage space.  
 
That said, we are certainly open to suggestions about what else we might do with those books, including the ideas that have been mentioned here, which we will consider.  
 
Since its inception the Rotary Club book sale has raised more than $500,000.00 which has been returned to the community in support of a range of worthwhile causes - so rest assured, the books you donate to our sale are put to very good use! We are always willing to work with the community to find better ways to manage our book sales in future.  
 
 
 
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Edited by Adam, 2015-09-18 10:42:00

Thank you Adam for sharing the response from Eric Lawson, the President of the Rotary Club. I would hate to see people stop supporting them because we jump to conclusions. I think they do a wonderful job and it is a lot of work for people who are volunteering. I would like to take this time to say Thank You to the Rotary Club and the Volunteers for the great job you do.

I hope you took any books that caught your eye and that others also go and do the same thing.

I letter saying they try doesn't mean they didn't throw those books away. I'm sure there is a better use for them.

Thank you for getting a reply from the Rotary club. I also love this sale and donate regularly and will continue to do so. The staff are so nice every year and the prices can't be beat. I hope they take some of the ideas to heart and find a great home for the books that they would normally recycle.

So the conclusion that everyone jumped to was, in fact, accurate. The books are being disposed of. I am disappointed to hear this, as I feel that there are other options out there. For starters, perhaps advertising the free books?

Is there no program in place for books such as these that could be donated to hospitals, schools, perhaps a northern community or any other center, even a local library? If not I think this would be a wonderful project for someone and I would be more than willing to help with something like this.  
 
I could be wrong and perhaps Adam or another representative could verify this information however I have heard from past employees of Value Village that they too throw out/recycle their books that don't sell.  
 
I believe if there were a program in place that there would be many interested in what doesn't sell.

Oh boy. Did you know that people donate books that are in pretty bad shape? I mean, pages stuck together, food crusted to the inside pages and just generally in bad shape on the insides. I would like to say thank you to the Rotary Book for looking through each and every book and yes "discarding" books that have been destroyed. Would you want a book that was like that?  
I'm not sure why people are so quick to judge the decisions of our hard working volunteers. Yes books were in the dumpster, for a reason. Thank you Rotary for all that you do for our communites.

knowing what kinds of books they are it is hard to criticize. Some books do become outdate. Eg encyclopedia's and text books. What with the high use of the internet now even recipe books, hobby patterns and how to books have almost become unnecessary too. And then of course those people who have converted from paper books to ebooks. Perhaps books are going the way of the typewriter.

I know the Brandon Correctional Ins. (jail) is in need of books. I think it's sad that books that could have helped educate people and enrich their lives have been disposed of. If the books had been on the sale tables they must have been in readable condition. I don't think the yucky books Heaven's Cakes is thinking of would have made it from their depot on Rosser and 5th to 34 Street where the sale was if they were gross.

The donation need for good condition, relevant, and in-date books is always there. There is almost zero need/want for a ton of old books floating out there, including most specifically in my experience out of date reference, periodicals, or condensed readers digest style books.

Unfortunately, I don't think it would work to have a post-sale free giveaway of the unsold books, otherwise a lot of people would just wait until then, rather than buying them during the sale.  
 
However, I know they always have a ton of books left over and have to store them (or recycle them as we've discovered here), so it would make sense to contact organizations such as those that others have suggested here and let those organizations come and pick up what they want for free. Maybe they already do this, I'm not sure.  
 
 
 
Edited by thatsjustme, 2015-09-18 13:34:32

I've seen ton of artwork done with old encyclopedias and those types of books that become outdated, art, envelopes, notebooks tons of stuff. Stuff doesn't just have to become landfills automatically.

hardcover books cannot be recycled unless the covers are removed, very difficult to do for any quantity, mention was made of donating to several different places, that sounds good but the logistics become very difficult, some do not want large numbers or certain types. what the rotary does makes sense. if people do not like it then join the rotary and help out. i am sure they would welcome new members. and no i am not a member of rotary but appreciate their efforts.

Samaritan House will take books, and they are given to those who want them. Evidently, they go quickly. I think the best use of them would be to Samaritan House, or in the case of children's books, also possibly schools. Many of our schools - whether libraries or classrooms - have fewer books than they would like to.

To all of those people super-duper concerned that they are being recycled...why don't you grab them out of the recycling bin and then take them to the charity you feels deserves them. That would seem like the most logical solution, rather than bemoan the fact that they did the reasonable thing and recycled the very small percentage of books that have no value.

Some places may simply not accept certain magazines or old books for crafts as was once the norm. Better in the recycle bin than garbage. And as another poster said perhaps pages were missing etc.

For many people, throwing a book away is a sin. The problem is, books must compete with all other things for valuable storage space in our houses, nobody will buy some discarded books, nobody is interested in reading an irrelevant book while in hospital and hardcover books with spines and covers are generally not accepted by recycling organizations. As such, we have to throw them away. I believe members of the Rotary Club do everything possible to sell the books they receive, regrettably without buyers. Many books become the literary orphans of this world with no chance of every finding a home again. Here are five books I wouldn’t be surprised to see in any dumpster:  
 
1 - Nuclear War Survival Skills  
2 – Justin Bieber: His World  
3 - A Beginner’s Guide to Developing Photographs  
4 - One Life is Not Enough – the Zsa Zsa Gabor biography  
5 - World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1983  

I am happy you have put this out there. I was thinking the same thing. Next year I am thinking the Rotary Club should have lots of volunteers. Because instead of complaining of what they do wrong get out there and help out.  
 
Edited by Gizmo29, 2015-09-18 16:55:39

We're in really good shape...kid's books, war books, romance, paper back, hard covers, cook books...2 garbage bins full!! I had a picture but it wasn't working on here