Trying to donate books

[Boedatives]

21 large boxes full. Some v new, some older but basically all literary classics.
So far, local hospixe has said they will charge £500 to come and collect (it's a 2 hour round trip for them).
What else can I do with them?
(I have a condition whereby I'm advised not to lift over 15kg as well so makes it tricky)

Most places in my experience won't take 'classics'. Because they are out of copyright they are reprinted for absolute buttons all the while and are sold for 99p from new.
Unless there are any actual first and second editions, I'm afraid they are most likely without financial value or second hand interest beyond decoration in a pub.

More popular modern fiction are usually acceprted at Little Free Libraries, book swap tables/shelves in supermarkets or community halls and some second hand book shops. Charity shops vary by type and area, some will take most, some won't take any.

Divide them up into small bags that you can life and take them out to several places to get rid.

Try ziffit/webuybooks and whatever they won't buy, take little by little to charity shop / local second hand book shop / local book exchange telephone booth/cupboard.

Failing that you could visit local libraries and stuff a few on each shelf - in a similar manner to how they got rid of the excess soil in The Great Escape.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles 😆

As others have said my library has a bookshelf at the entrance/exit for second hand "Free to take" books, albeit not that many, same as most of the supermarkets, I think though you might have to break them down into smaller lots
hospices are a great idea though (obvs not in this case!) I'd never thought of donating to them before

I got rid of about 20boxes when the village fete decided to stop running a bookstall (lots of donations but very few purchases!)

I sold about 6 boxes to We Buy Books, who collected. They only offered to buy more unusual novels and hardback autobiographies, though - I guess there are too many mass market paperbacks around.

The rest were collected free by British Heart Foundation. The DVDs were all snapped up on Freecycle.

i was very glad to get my kitchen back!

freecycle, local oap homes, charity shops, or music magpie them...

Find your local second hand book shop and they will buy them direct. Ours is great, take them and 10 minutes later you walk out with some cash.
There is a charity, books2aftics that collects used books such as dictionaries and I presume the classics and sends them to Africa but you have to send a donation with the books.
Or drop a few off every time you go somewhere with one of the charity book stalls such as supermarkets

Join book selling/ donating group on Facebook

Or

Facebook market place

Or

Oxfam book shop

Or

Free book library at hospital, supermarket

Or

Give away

British Heart Foundation (BHF) will collect from you and will take it all unchecked. You can request a collection online - it's really easy but you may have to wait a few weeks as the collectors are busy.

I think there does come a time when you have tried the usual methods that you have to compost, burn or bin them.

I love books but they are just stuff and sometimes we have to accept nobody wants it.

This is the size of the boxes.
Sadly I live 200 miles from where the boxes currently are. And it's a very rural area so no towns within at least 10 mile radius.
I'm visiting for 2 days in August and I need to get them all out as house is being sold....

Thanks I've checked but they do not cover this postcode.

There are some first and more second editions , but all jumbled in.

No, they are collecting some furniture for free. They don't want the books, but will take them for the charge.

When the schools go back donate any suitable to their libraries. We always ask for book donations and we are usually very lucky.

You could try Ziffit etc but they will only take certain books and I suspect if they're mostly literary classics they probably won't take them.

Second-hand booksellers, in general, don't really need boxes of classics and bestsellers. They aren't collectible or hard to find and people can buy them new very cheaply in lots of places, so they're not really a big market for booksellers. That's why so many get donated to charity.

The fact that you need them collecting is the main problem here, to be honest. People can only collect if it's worth their while doing so. I think you might end up having to pay for them to be collected (although not £500!!) by a waste company or something.

Thanks. I just don't have time to look through the books as we need to get everything out of the house for the buyers.

We have a little free library where you can leave books for others to pick for free. Is there anywhere like that nearby?
You couldn't take all in one go, but 5-10 each week is how I clear out my bookcase.

I can't do that, I live 200 miles away from where the books are.
I could easily get rid of a carrier bag of books, this is 21 massive boxes.

Failing that you could visit local libraries and stuff a few on each shelf - in a similar manner to how they got rid of the excess soil in The Great Escape.

I love this! Ingenious but very naughty!

I take books to an Oxfam bookshop. Most local charity shops don't have space for them.

At some local recycling centres they have book bins. Have a look on the local council recycling section... you might be able to take them there when you're visiting.

Paperbacks can go in dry recycling bins too.

Any local sale rooms? They may collect and sell as a job lot?

Does the nearest village church raise funds through book sales?

Local council? I paid £50 to have two sofa’s removed. Standard fee.

You seem to have tried everything else.

Anglo doorstep collections - google it. If they collect in your area, it's fantastic. I got rid of 4 boxes of books about your size, plus 12 bin bags of clothes etc the other week, they just came and collected it all from my front garden for free.

Oh that looked good.

But not in my area

I use Ziffit because they come and collect them and pay for them too. You just need to download the app and get some boxes to pack them in. They reject some books so they go in the nearest book recycling bin or if they’re good hardbacks I drop them in the Shelter shop. I buy a lot of books, nearly all second hand but don’t really want to keep them. The odd time when I want to reread a book I buy it again; it costs less than a cup of coffee usually. I got rid of masses when I moved and don’t want them to pile up again.

There is a sale room. I'd have to drive them over if my brother can lift them, they quoted a lot for collection too.

I just cannot bin them