Ironically, the higher prices make library book sales even more attractive as they limit the titles they accept for donation to not older than 2010. The book I’m reading was published in 2008 bought at a thrift store.
If a book is ragged, very low value , not a first edition, then I might use it for crafting making. I believe around 1939 printers stopped using lead in ink. One of my projects is a redo of circa 1950s metal office cabinets that I use for art supplies, by decoupaging a 1936 second reprint of Walter D. Edmonds book, Drums Along the Mohawk.
Reading e-books has changed the great landscape of book publishing that is a rich part of our history. A great part of our human heritage is discarded in favor of technology. What about bookshelves? What will they be for? Shoe racks?
