Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Development Authority of the North Country and the North Country Library System (NCLS)
have teamed up to provide member libraries with a way to recycle hardcover books that have
been taken out of circulation and are no longer useable.
While softcover books can be recycled with paper, hardcover books must be disposed of as
trash, which means they go into the landfill. As part of its commitment to find waste diversion
solutions, the Development Authority purchased a book debinding machine that allows the
binding to be removed from hardcover books so that the pages can be recycled as paper.
“We are always seeking opportunities to provide additional avenues for recycling,” said
Development Authority Executive Director James W. Wright. “This helps us improve and
increase the amount of paper we can recycle and keeps a lot of bulk out of the landfill.”
Books will be picked up from member libraries as part of the NCLS interlibrary loan system, and
taken to the Development Authority for debinding. Libraries exhaust several other options for
reusing books before recycling.
“It’s important for our libraries to dispose of books that contain outdated information or don’t
circulate anymore, in order to make room for new titles,” said NCLS Executive Director Susan
Mitchell. “Reuse is always our first choice and books sales will still take place at libraries that
hold them, in addition to donating them to several other organizations; disposal is a last resort
but an important option to make sure libraries have the space to keep their collections updated
and relevant, and to ensure that we are not offering outdated information to our patrons.”
NCLS will be working with its member libraries to arrange pick up dates and logistics. For more
information on recycling, see the Development Authority’s updated website:
www.northcountryrecycles.org.
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