One would think that an 86-year-old set of encyclopedias would be landfill material — or at least a sizable contribution to the recycling bin.
Linda Kowalek of the western suburbs found differently. Kowalek discovered that even very old encyclopedias have life left in them.
“I, just by chance, called The Newberry Library,” Kowalek told us.
As the story goes, Kowalek’s husband inherited a 20- (or so) volume set of The New International Encyclopaedia, with the last copyright being 1922.
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“They have been sitting in the basement in a box,” says Kowalek, noting her eco concerns about dumping them or even sending them off for recycling.
With that chance call to Newberry, Kowalek discovered that Chicago’s beloved independent research library, indeed, does take outdated encyclopedias. They’re sold at the library’s semiannual book fairs.
Dan Crawford, Newberry’s book fair manager, tells us encyclopedias must be in complete sets — and that all kinds of people buy them, including folks doing research on a particular era.
Crawford adds that the library takes “just about everything [paperback and hardcover] except old textbooks and Reader’s Digest condensed books.”
People with books to donate can leave a small load at the front desk of the library at 60 W. Walton St. Larger loads should be brought to Newberry’s loading dock behind the building. Dock hours are (generally) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Receipts for tax purposes are given.
The next Newberry Library Book Fair is scheduled for Friday and Saturday and focuses on mysteries, science fiction and romance books. All other books sell at the summer fair, scheduled for July 24 through 27.
For more information on donating books, call Crawford at 312-255-3501.
Note: Book Rescue, operated by SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) also takes encyclopedias — but only complete sets and none older than 1995. It also takes reference books, textbooks, storybooks, etc. Most of the books are donated to schools.
Drop off at 799 Roosevelt Rd., Building 2, Suite 108, Glen Ellyn. For more info, call 630-545-9710, www.book rescue.org. Tax receipts are given.
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