For quite some time, I have been making amends on my weekend schedule to do some spring cleaning at home. While there's no such thing as spring season in the country where I am, the primary reason why I finally decided doing so was to give way to a number of things from removing the clutter to allocating space for new things.
While I was able to easily discard the usual stuff, I realized that the next thing that occupied much space in my room were my old books. Sure I want to be able to stock my shelf with new titles for my eyes and my brain to devour into but the question as to where to send the old ones was a concern. I dismissed my mom's suggestion of sending them to a junk shop because while they might be old (some of them had been with me for 20 years!), those books could still be read and used as reference materials -- and junk shops that tear off the pages to dissolve them aren't just a good idea.
The existence of municipal public libraries proved to be a blessing as they gladly took in a box filled with my old books back last year. But there are still quite a lot left with me at home. I tried searching for foundations that might benefit my prized possessions. And while I was able to find quite a number of them, most are located far from where I live which would make transporting the books an issue (aside from the fact that I work on weekdays and no one is available to drive for me on weekends).
I was ready to give up and give in to mom's recommendation when I found this sign during one of my lunch hour trips to Eastwood Mall:
I've been supporting a number of advocacies as an employee volunteer of the company where I've been with and seeing this sign stationed in Cibo in Eastwood led me to a light bulb moment. The restaurant is a sharing center of Books for the Better. They work together with Books for a Cause, a non-profit organization that aims to provide precious knowledge to every Filipino and increase literacy through continuous learning. This led me to immediately consider this advocacy as one of those that I can personally support.
Right there and then I just knew this will be an ideal place for my old books and I did not waste time to approach one of their staff who was accommodating to answer my query. I was hesitant at first that my books might just be declined but the move of asking was not a futile attempt. I was told that they accept books regardless of type or genre.
As of this writing, I've sent quite a number of books to their branch thrice. And in those three instances, my book donations were cheerfully received. I told their staff that I would return with more books as I still have some left at home. I'm happy that despite being tagged as old, my prized possessions can still go a long way and ignite a love for reading to someone else within the country. Those books might be vintage and old but the way people will benefit from it will be as precious as gold.
