User talk:SandyGeorgia/Books

Downsizing

It's time to start getting rid of books. I'm willing to give most of these away to people in the US who are willing to send me an address. On the heavy ones, I may ask that you contribute to the shipping (media rate, via a donation to a charity I specify), but on the lighter ones, I would probably also pay the shipping just so they don't end up in a landfill. I don't want to deal with customs, mail, etc to mail outside of the U.S. As I go through my house bit-by-bit, I'll add things here, so please watchlist if you're interested.

We have enormous collections of Joyce, Yeats, Irish poetry, art, architecture, history of religion, and all manner of Military History, mostly World War II, trains, ships and planes. If this is a good way to give away books, I'll continue to list them here.

Media mail shipping cost, USPS

Art

User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Art

@Ceoil, Johnbod, Kafka Liz, and Victoriaearle: (and please ping anyone else interested). Are cocktail-table books like those I listed initially at User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Art useful for citing anything? If so, and if someone wants to acquire books like this, I will list more. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:27, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

They're great books and definitely useful for citing. By definition books about art are big, thus coffee table books. The pruning of stuff process is on the list in our house too, so I'm starting by not bringing in anything else unless absolutely needed (food, etc.). Great idea though. I might steal it from you and do the same. Victoria (tk) 23:16, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It is not only hard to get rid of books; it's heartbreaking to part with them. The thought of them ending up in a landfill .... SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:03, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of organizations sell books, i.e Goodwill and other charities. And Archives.org accepts donations, see here. Usually libraries accept accept donations too, or a local library will have a "friends of library" type organization that takes donations or sponsors sales. A decade ago I would have been interested in these but I have too many books myself and right now boxes of books stacked in the dining room ready to go. Victoria (tk) 01:16, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I did not know about archive.org! A University near us has a huge sale every spring, so I can donate them there if needed next year, but really wanted to put them to good use on Wikipedia first, if anyone needs any. Thx, Victoria! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:21, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, somewhat. But these days similar info on specific objects is mostly available online on the museum websites. But they might be useful to some people. Johnbod (talk) 03:21, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If you all know of US art editors who might want them, pls ping them in. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 03:44, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Military history

User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Military history

@Hog Farm: watchlist this page and I'll add books here over time. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:56, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Nature and biology

User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Nature and biology

Jimfbleak see message above and books listed; is that Encyclopedia useful for citing anything? Anyone else in the US who might be interested? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:29, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

SandyGeorgia, nice book, but I think there will always be better and regularly updated sources, like Cornell, that would be preferred Jimfbleak - talk to me? 10:56, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Trains

User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Trains

@Iridescent and Mackensen: which FA train authors might be interested in train books I can give away? Must give me a US shipping address, and I'd prefer FA writers. If someone is interested, I'll list them slowly over time, as we sort through things. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:37, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@SandyGeorgia what a great idea! I'm certainly interested, and I would also suggest (on the assumption they're stateside) Slambo (talk · contribs), Trainsandotherthings (talk · contribs), and Truflip99 (talk · contribs). Mackensen (talk) 20:04, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

OK, if they are interested, and have a USPS address to email me, I will start listing books I can send them. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:16, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for the ping, Mackensen :). I am always looking to pick up more books on trains, I've recently started a personal mission of getting a railroad GA in every state. I am indeed in the U.S., I live in Rhode Island. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 22:44, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The list is at User:SandyGeorgia/Books#Trains; some of them are quite heavy, so depending on what you want, I may go to the USPS to get an estimate on the media rate, and ask for a donation to a charity. Does that work for you? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:48, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I can tell you I don't need The Art of the Streamliner, because I already own a copy. Save that for someone else who doesn't own a copy yet. The rest all look interesting. You're saying you want me to make a donation to charity? Trainsandotherthings (talk) 01:55, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If you want all of them, yes, as mailing could get pricey. Let me go to the USPS tomorrow to get an estimate for the media rate for all but The Art of the Streamliner ... SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:15, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Trainsandotherthings turns out I don't need to go the Post Office--found the rates online and weighed the books myself. All of those books together are about 30 pounds, and this page puts the media rate for that at about $25. (I say about because I suppose the packaging will add some weight.) Could we check, though, whether Mackensen also wants some, so you two can split them up if necessary? I feel like Wikipedia would benefit more from having them split among multiple editors, to be sure they get used for citing articles! Once you all decide between yourselves, we can sort via email a donation to a charity to cover my postage fees. I sent some books to another Wikipedian, thinking media mail would be the real slow boat, but they got them within the week. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:32, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

OK ... Found a charity my family members support that can receive donations via PayPal, so once you all decide who gets what, we can do the rest via email. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 03:14, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I may be a little late to the discussion (had computer problems and a bunch of work travel lately), but I'd be happy to add any to my reference collection. I have a good connection to my local area model railroading community as well, so even if they are duplicates, I can find a worthy home for them. Slambo (Speak) 13:35, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Slambo I have not heard back from either Mackensen or Trainsandotherthings, so I'm not sure who wants and gets what. Could you all sort that and then email me a) who gets what, and b) where do I ship it? Because the books are quite heavy, I would ask you to make a donation to a charity I will provide in email (a church), that accepts online donations via the PayPal Giving Fund, so that I end up effectively donating my shipping costs, which according to what I can find on USPS.com, would be in the range of $30 only if someone took the entire collection. Of course, this would involve giving me a shipping address, but I would not gain any knowledge of the PayPal donor or name, as that would not come to me. In other words, if you are uncomfortable divulging an identity, you can give me any shipping address name that will find its way to you. I don't know what kind of identifying info the church gets, but I'm fairly certain donations can be anon. We have located a local annual book sale where we can donate these books to a hospital charity, and we would have no shipping costs, but we sure would like them to put to good use citing articles on Wikipedia. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:41, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

My apologies, this totally slipped my mind. I'm going to take a deeper look at the books and pick out maybe 3 or 4 I'd like. From a quick glance, Twilight of the Great Trains looks of interest to me. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 14:04, 3 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It's yours. Once we get in to email contact, I have four others that may interest you re your goal to get a GA for every state. I'll wait on the whole final shipping matter until we're sure re who gets what, so I can ship all of them. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:21, 3 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]