As long as the books are still in good condition, it’s worth considering selling them. A classic option would be setting up a booth at a flea market. For example, the Krempelmarkt takes place every fourteen days on the banks of the Rhine in Mainz, between the Kaisertor and the Rotes Tor.  Tickets for booth space and parking are available at advance sales locations and online; you’ll find the relevant link in our list of links.

If you’d rather not spend an entire Saturday reducing your book collection, you can also use one of the many online sales platforms. There are essentially two categories of platforms. You can list books individually, which is often worth it for specialized books and rare copies. Here, you can set the price yourself, but you’ll also have to handle shipping and payment processing. If you want to sell a whole batch of novels or crime thrillers, you might be better off using a reCommerce portal. By scanning the barcode on these platforms, you’ll immediately receive a suggested price and can decide whether the sale is even worth it. Once the books have been packed and shipped, the provider handles the rest of the process. 

If you don't want to bother with selling your books or are skeptical about online platforms, you can donate them free of charge. There are several options for doing so in the Mainz area.

All districts have book exchange shelves (also known as open libraries). These are old display cases or distribution boxes where books of all kinds can be given away and exchanged. The book exchange shelves thrive on people taking and adding books – the more they are used, the better. But here too, the rule is to only put in books that you would take yourself. Twenty-year-old travel guides and dusty novels with dog-eared pages are not really suitable. If there is no space on the shelf, take the books back with you, because only on the shelf are they well protected from the weather. The Mainz environmental store also offers a book exchange shelf on its premises at Steingasse 3-9. Anyone can browse during opening hours.

Many libraries are also happy to accept used books in good condition to keep their stock up to date. If you want to donate books here, you should check the conditions beforehand. As a rule, the books should not be older than five years and should be in very good condition.

Of course, books can also be offered online for free, for example on the online platform "Mainzer Tausch- und Verschenkmarkt" (Mainz Exchange and Giveaway Market). Here, individual copies or entire boxes of books can be offered. You can find the appropriate link in the list.

Do you have books in very good condition and would like to donate the proceeds from their sale to a good cause? Then there are two places in Mainz that support charitable work and people in need.

In the old town, Oxfam Deutschland e.V. runs a shop that accepts books in good condition. Due to limited storage capacity, the association asks that only manageable quantities be donated. A good guideline is a carrier bag or a small cardboard box. You can find out which books are accepted on the association's website.

In Bretzenheim, ZMO ("Zusammenarbeit mit Osteuropa") e.V. (Cooperation with Eastern Europe) maintains its book salon on Hans-Böckler-Straße. In addition to books, household goods and clothing can also be donated to ZMO. If you would like to donate something, you must first book an appointment online or by phone. As storage capacity is limited here too, the books delivered are sorted through immediately and, if necessary, discarded.

What to do with moldy books, old encyclopedias, or children's books with outdated spelling that have been stored in the basement? Unfortunately, some copies can only be disposed of. In Mainz, hardcover books can be disposed of in small quantities in the paper bin or the appropriate container at recycling centers and waste disposal centers. Paperbacks can be disposed of as waste paper without restriction. However, care should generally be taken to ensure that the bin does not become too heavy.

In addition to the Anna Seghers public library in Neustadt, there are a number of district libraries and public libraries run by other organizations in the Mainz area. For a small membership fee, you can borrow all kinds of books here. And you don't have to worry about them gathering dust on your bookshelf after you've finished reading them.

An even more convenient way to use less shelf space is an e-book reader. Even though the topic is still controversial among bookworms, it is worth considering. Classic novels or crime stories that you only read once can also be read comfortably on a reader. E-book readers have special displays that reflect light like normal paper. They don't tire your eyes like a tablet or smartphone display. Even a simple reader can hold around 6,000 books, which would fill several meters of shelf space.

Most local bookstores now also offer the option of purchasing eBooks via their website and downloading them directly to your own reader. There are no limits to the choice of topics and how up-to-date they are.

eBooks can also be borrowed. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the State Library Center coordinates a network of libraries that offer electronic media for loan. The service is called Onleihe. Anyone who is a member of the Anna Seghers public library in Mainz can access Onleihe. Onleihe currently has almost 50,000 eBooks available, including around 8,400 crime novels, so there is something for every taste. For anyone who would like to browse through the Onleihe selection, we have included a link in the list.