A Sinister Wisdom supporter wrote and asked: "I am downsizing. I have about 300 small press/feminist books. Any idea who would want them?"
I responded: So books are tough to regime in part because the used book market is really efficient right now because of online selling. Here are my ideas, based on the amount of time invested (from least to the most)
1. Donate the books to the local library for their library sale. Most libraries have them and are grateful to receive books (and some lucky lesbians will discover them at the library!)
Adding: the wonderful proprietor of Violet Valley books in Water Valley, MS emailed me and reminded me that they ALWAYS love donations of lesbian, lesbian-feminist, and queer books. You can get their address to mail them books on their website: https://www.violetvalley.org/
2. See if an organization in your realm would take them as a donation - local LGBT center, the women’s studies program at your alma mater, local battered women’s shelter, etc.
3. If the collection has enough rare and out of print books and you are close to San Francisco, the bookseller Bolerium Books might buy them from you to resell. There are other booksellers in other large cities that might do it as well.
4. Gift the books over time to important people in your life.
5. Cultivate a relationship with a younger person and share the books—and why you bought them and kept them—with her over time.
I hope these ideas might be useful to you.
- Julie