Dec 6

Dec 6 Tis The Season of Book Giving

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to be giving away books! For anyone who’s in the mood to be more giving this season I’ve provided some ideas that you can do both online and offline in your own local library to provide books to others or a way for the less fortunate to have the opportunities to read books when they are limited on money and supplies.

#BOOKWISH

This new movement has been a huge game changer for international readers and book bloggers! Someone started it as a way to get new books into the hands of people in other countries that either don’t have access to books on a daily basis, whether it be bookstores or libraries. The way it works is someone posts on their social media a list of books or bookish items they would like to receive with the #bookwish / #bookwishlist tag. Then people answer by providing however many items they’d like to pay for to have shipped to them! It works the other way too - if you’re willing to take part of it you can share a status stating that you’ll fulfill someone’s #bookwish and feel free to include a maximum amount you’ll pay.

BE A PART OF THE BOOK FAIRIES

I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!

This organization began in March 2017 where they made it their mission to share the love of books they enjoy most to others in their communities! It’s an amazing effort and gives me joy to know that there’s such a thing out there in the world.

To give you an idea of what they do, they randomly hide books they recommend in places for others to find and keep for free! Just keep an eye out for their special book fairy sticker and ribbon while you’re out and about! If you haven’t come across any maybe it’s time you start another brand in your local area to spread awareness. :)

For more information on how to order supplies and follow your area’s book fairies go to The Book Fairies’ website.

BOOK GIVEAWAYS

Similar to the #bookwish tag you can host random book giveaways by offering a book you own or choose to buy a new one to give away (or any other bookish item). It’s also a way to help promote your social media account and/or book blog so a lot of people list a set of requirements so they can enter to win. Usually they require you to follow, like, retweet, and tag a friend. Don’t forget to hashtag #bookgiveaway!

BOOK CHALLENGES

Another great way to promote your book blog is by hosting book challenges. You can either participate in book challenges that have already been created or you can start your own! Challenges are a really great way to help you meet new people in the book community, whether it be on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or any other one of your favorite social sites.

DONATIONS

Donate them to a local shelter, call ahead to be sure they take those kind of items. Sometimes organizations have certain protocols for donations. You could also give them to Goodwill to support their efforts or nonprofit organizations that accept books.

GIFTS

Do you have other bookworms in your circle? Gift or hand them to friends and family who have similar tastes.

SELL YOUR BOOKS

Another options is to sell the books for extra Christmas gift shopping money. You can sell your books to online bookstores like Thriftbooks or Amazon. You can also sell them to other local used bookstores or Barnes & Noble which started it’s book buyback program last year or so. To be sure, check with your local stores to see if they are participating.

GIVE BACK TO YOUR LIBRARY

This is my personal favorite - give your books to your local library where they can either make a profit with them in their book sales or put them on a shelf for someone else who will be interested in reading them.

FREE LIBRARY

Do something a little more out of the box and start your own free neighborhood library! There are many of these throughout the world though I’ve never seen one in person (besides at campgrounds or hotels), but I think it would be pretty neat to come across. Find a dry safe place to keep the books and put a sign up for others saying that they are free to borrow and note to them to bring them back for others to read once they’re finished with them.

Please tag me and let me know if you take part in any of these ideas! Do you have any other ways to give back to the book community?

Other Related Article(s):

Bookish’s Holiday Calendar | Bookish

I Read YA / I Gift YA Giveaways (Hosted by Scholastic Publishing) | Scholastic

Christmas Bookmarks | Book Depository

Read my other posts in the #25DaysofBookmas series!

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