I recently came up with a post on instagram by a certain European in which there was a room in which piles of books were lying clumsily. The caption read,” Indians are uneducated people. They don’t value education. They just sell their old books in kilos.”
Some of you might gather to criticize the government policies as well as ignorance of some citizens lacking civil sense. But let me tell you. If you sell your old books to a raddi walah, you’re not a good citizen either. Yes, you can sell old stuff and newspapers to them but books are not worth it.
Books signify knowledge. When I visit someone’s home. If he/she has a good collection of books, I really love that person.
You might ask that if you aren’t a bibliophile and want to dispose your old books, what should you do. I’ve got some options for you.
1. Donate To Someone In Need.
Donating your books to someone in need is the best thing you can do with your old books. If you give your book to a raddi walah, he will first of all think of his profit. Yes, he will resell those books.
Once, my dad subscribed to a magazine on the trends in medicine (he’s a doctor). That magazine was too expensive.
After the editions got old, we used to sell them to kabadi in kilos. Once, one of the dad’s compounders wanted that book. At that time, we didn’t have any. He finally bought one from the same raddi walah at 100 bucks to whom we sold at 11 rupee/kilo.
Even if the raddi walah, doesn’t resell, he would transfer it to a paper factory, where those books will be compressed and for each book that is compressed, one child would be deprived from his right to education.
So it’s better to donate your books to any needy person.
2. Donate To Library.
I’ve practiced this step and it really satisfies. You can accumulate some punyas in your account. Charity is a boon.
I had a number of old books which were occupying too much space in my house. They were coursebooks, of course, so I didn’t need them now. I donated them in my school library.
Now I feel happy that many children will get to read them.
3.Resell
You can accumulate a big deal of money by selling your old books. In this way, your books don’t break the cycle of supply. In offline shops, second hand books can be bought at half price, so if as individuals we wish to sell our books, we ought to sell them at a rate between half and fourth of the price.
4.Stock
A deal can be ensured between people to secure the books. Like sharing of books between friends. Many often I’ve used the books of my cousins and siblings.
5.Creative Projects
Many of my ideas might sound hyperbolic to you, so I suggest you one easy solution. In many books you’ll be able to find pictures for your projects. This will save your money of printing or buying stickers or cutouts.
Do you have any other tip you use to dispose your old books? share in the comments below.
