We’ve been clearing out around here. Last week Paul donated six crates’ worth of books to the library. Paul had checked ahead of time to find out how to donate all those books, many of them encyclopedias, but the librarian apparently failed to tell the people in the back that the books were coming. They hadn’t a clue what to do with all of them or where to put them when we dropped them off. Not our problem now!
In searching for books to donate, I came across my master’s thesis research papers from 1987, along with literature and other articles I found interesting at that time, class notes and study guides from three real estate classes I took 10 years ago, and paperbacks I love but will probably never read again. It was easiest to give away the paperbacks, because I have the librarian’s assurance that I can check them out if I need to visit them again!
I gave away the real estate books and recycled all the notes and study guides – way too outdated!
It’s interesting what I could not part with for so many years. I looked at every page before deciding to give it all up. I finally gave myself permission to throw out all the raw data, graphs, and published papers collected 23 years ago. I don’t even understand it anymore! Then I spent several hours separating a stack of about 5” of paper into what I could use as printer paper, what could be padded as scratch paper, and what was merely recyclable. Here’s part of that mess:
What I did save was anything I had written in college, including the thesis, a summer research project, and class papers on such topics as nuclear power plants (HTGRs), the solar wind, the civil war, and a painting I saw at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.