(no subject)

[the_rck]

I gave three books to Cordelia’s English/social studies teacher today. Two of them are hardcover books on the Presidents of the U.S. up through Obama. The eighth graders study U.S. history, so those are likely to be useful to have. I also gave her a library bound copy of Journey to Topaz which is a novel about the Japanese internment during WWII from the point of view of an eleven year old girl. The author based it on her own experiences, so there’s a lot of solid details to make the book feel real to kids. The eighth grade curriculum has a focus on 'genocide literature' and includes the internment under that umbrella.

All three books were in extremely good condition.

I’ve given several books to the librarian for evaluation as to whether or not they’re useful for the collection. The two Dork Diaries books are pretty likely to end up in the collection. The three Miss Bianca books are iffier. They’re pretty pristine hardcovers (book club editions from around 1990, I think), but I’m not sure if kids these days are interested. It’s hard to tell. Pretty books are more likely to circulate, and these are.

Anybody reading this have a child or know one who might be interested in a Backyardigans CD? I’ve got a copy of Born to Play that I’ve just finished listening to to make sure it plays. It sounds fine all the way through.

I’ve been testing Cordelia’s old CDs and seeing whether or not I can get the scratches out of the ones that won’t play. I’m only willing to trying grinding the scratches off twice because the thing we have is manually operated and kind of tiring to use. (We tried an electronic one once. It didn’t work well, died fast, and Scott lost the instructions.) Those that don’t become playable after that are going into the trash.

We’ve got about twenty empty CD jewel cases. None of us have any idea where those CDs could have gone. They’re not in the basement. They’re not in Cordelia’s room. They’re not with my CD collection or in any of the carrying books we’ve got. I can’t imagine that that many CDs are really lurking under couches (I’ve checked) or got thrown out accidentally, so I assume there’s a cache of some sort somewhere in the house. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for about three years, however, and haven’t found them yet. I’m getting tired of keeping the jewel cases, though, as they take up a lot of room.

Would it be terrible to just throw out the CDs Scott’s parents have made and given us of inspirational sermons? None of us have ever listened to any of them, and I don’t expect we ever will. I don’t know. Maybe Scott’s sister’s SIL might know someone who would want them. She works for a church of the same denomination as the one Scott’s parents attend. I was wanting to email her anyway to find out if there’s a place I can donate those cotton rag socks.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I vote check with your relation about whether she wants those inspirational sermon CDs. Failing that, I'd put them on eBay or in the Goodwill box, myself, but it wouldn't be terrible to just toss them.

[the_rck]

They're pirated copies or copies of things Scott's parents taped (sermons from their church), so I don't want to donate them for sale or try to sell them.

[alexseanchai]

Gotcha. Toss 'em. :)

[lunabee34]

Nope. Toss them immediately!

[wendelah1]

I second this emotion.

[adrian_turtle]

Toss them. CDs are not exactly an obsolete technology, but they're close enough that it's not at all surprising that a given person is not using them. Also, when your in-laws gave you those CDs of sermons, they were a gift. Do with them what you like. (I would *strongly* recommend throwing them away and not worrying about it. Making coasters or mobiles or other art would probably just make you worry your relatives would see them and be offended.) If Scott's sister wants recordings of sermons, she will want them on something other than CD.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Hard to say about the CD from parents - on the one hand, my experience has been whenever I get rid of a gift, that's when someone asks about it and I have to say I broke/used it up...

OTOH, you can always say - if they do, which they probabaly won't - you thought of someone else they would help :)

OTOOH, how much room do they take up? I have stuff in a top cupboard just to get it out of the way.

[the_rck]

Our shelf for CDs is quite full, and I'm trying to get rid of anything we don't actually listen to. (I'm keeping the stuff we do in case of a catastrophic hard drive failure.) Basically, these are ending up stacked in places where they get knocked over.

We haven't got enough closet space for our clothing (and it's not that we own ten times what we can wear or anything). We don't have attic storage, and the basement is full of junk. I'm trying to clear out as much as possible of what we never use.

Over the years, Scott's parents have mainly asked him if he agrees that the speakers are inspirational and if this is building his faith. They haven't ever asked for detailed opinions. Some of these CDs are ten years old.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

The Friends of the Library might take the sermons. When I used to cashier for them, I was always surprised by how many religious books were being bought -- it was consistently one of the hottest topics.

[the_rck]

These are pirated/homemade, so I very much hesitate to donate them anywhere.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Oh. That makes sense. Never mind!