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Published Sept. 05, 2006              Comments (3)  Print E-Mail Subscribe
Banish old textbooks from your shelves

By Linda Tarr

For The Olympian

Whether they're enjoyable reads or not, those used textbooks take up a lot of space. Fortunately, there are many options for clearing your closets and shelves of tomes.

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Local colleges buy back books, as do many area bookstores and online services. Book sales and swaps also are a good option for those who home school, while several places take donations.

Linda Berentsen, owner of Olympia's Orca Books, believes local book shops are a good first option for selling.

"If you were going to sell it online, you'd have to ship it, and that takes time," she said. "If it's bought here, it helps to keep the books in the community and support a local business."

Bookstores

  • Orca Books, 509 E. Fourth Ave., is selective. "We don't buy older editions if there is a new edition out. Condition is important. We don't like underlining and highlighting. Basically, we go through them one at a time," Berentsen said.

    Orca also buys many trade paperbacks as well as fiction and nonfiction books that college professors assign, she said.

    "You could always try here first and get your money right away - and you can still sell it online if we can't use it," she said.

    For more information, call 360-352-0123.

  • Last Word Books, 211 Fourth Ave E., Olympia, also buys used textbooks as well as the fiction and nonfiction books assigned at local colleges.

    "I am not so picky on condition. I try not to take them if they have too much marking, but I don't mind a little bit," said owner Robert Ross.

    Markings, however, usually affect the amount he gives in cash or trade. To find out if he'll purchase your books, call 360-786-9673.

  • Browser's Book Shop, 107 N. Capitol Way, Olympia, occasionally buys used textbooks if they're in good condition.

    For more information, call 360-357-7462.

    For those who don't want to leave campus, be aware that policies vary from college bookstore to college bookstore.

  • The Evergreen State College Bookstore buys used textbooks year-round for up to 30 percent of the book's value - generally $1.50 to $6 each. For more information, call 360-867-5300.

  • Students can recoup costs at South Puget Sound Community College at the end of each quarter. The next opportunity is Sept. 18 and 19 at the bookstore. Call 360-596-5439 for more information.

  • Saint Martin's College also features a bookstore. Call 360-438-4394.

    Home-schooled kids

  • Christian Homeschoolers of South Sound (CHOSS) holds an annual used-curriculum sale for home-school families. It generally is held in May, said organization president Linda Gossett. For more information, see www.chossfamilies.org

  • Life Education Activity Resource Network, a South Sound home school group, also organizes an annual used-curriculum sale, usually in early June. For more information, see www.homeschoolerslearn.org.

    Online

    If you choose the online selling route, there are many options as well. Well-known www.ebay.com, www.half.com, www.craigslist.com and www.swapsimple.com are all good. Sites such as www.collegetextbookbuyers.com cater to those in the higher education crowd.

    At www.bigwords.com/book/ you either can sell your books or donate them through the organization's partnership with Better World Books, which uses the books to fund literacy initiatives internationally. For more information on this organization, or to donate to it directly, see www.betterworldbooks.com.

    Books for prisoners

    Books To Prisoners is a Seattle-based, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that sends donated books to prisoners in the United States.

    The organization requests paperback books only. The most requested topics recently are: African American studies and history, Mexican studies and history, American Indian studies and history, and Spanish/English dictionaries, according to the organization's Web site.

    Other common requests include fiction, vocational-technical manuals and books covering politics, anthropology, art and drawing, psychology and health and fitness. Go to www.bookstoprisoners.net.

    In South Sound, Books to Prisoners has a collection bin next to the bookstore at The Evergreen State College.

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