What do colleges and universities do with old textbooks they no longer need?

Question

I want to try to get my hands on some free books. I was wondering if anyone knew what community colleges and universities do with textbooks they don't need. Do they sell them? Donate? Throw them away??

Answer 1

No, they just recycle the paper from textbooks and re-use them as school lunches. You can buy used textbooks for $50 a piece or so at community colleges.

Answer 2

They don't have mass textbooks as they do in high school. Each lecuturer or professor picks a book and the student store orders in slightly more copies than they need.

Students sell their used text books to the student store for pennies on the dollar and the student store sells them for half price of the new books.

College Libraries don't sell off old books as much as public libraries do.

I got a 15 year old PDR for $5 at a local library, a new PDR sells for like $225.

You best bet is garage sales and thrift stores.

I once almost bought an old Britanica set, complete for $40 from our thrift store. New it sold for $3,000.

It was, however, 10 years out of date.

Answer 3

Unlike at high schools, universities and colleges don't own texbooks; the students buy their own. College bookstores have consignment arrangements with the publishers, so that they send back the books which were not sold without having to pay for them. There is nothing left for them to get rid of.