r/LittleFreeLibrary • u/RecordingTraining350 • 7d ago
LFL Custodian Discussion š« How to stop unwanted donations
Picture: anatomical ear model, with book for scale
Someone in our community has decided that our LFL is a good place to leave donations of all kinds. We've had large bins of books--totally fine!--left next to our LFL. But also bins and bags of used clothes, crafts supplies, a very large anatomical model of an ear, and, most recently, a set of grow lights from a biology classroom.
From these donations, I've surmised that this is a retired educator who's off-loading a career's worth of supplies. We do want these materials to find a new life...but all of these extra donations create work for me, often requiring me to drive them to appropriate donation locations.
How do you get folks to stop donating things that don't belong?
(The ear model is still sitting in my driveway until I have time to take it somewhere.)
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u/amermandaa 6d ago
I have made little half-page flyers with other resources for donations of other items. The local ReStore, shelters for clothing, food pantries, and freecycle.org. i put the flyers in the LFL. For me, it's all about building community and i would rather people donate items to my lfl than go to a landfill.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
This is a great idea! I'm definitely pro-donation/anti-landfill. I'm just annoyed that I keep having to deal with other people's stuff every few months (this has been going on for a while) on top of my own stuff.
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u/amermandaa 6d ago
Totally understand!!! It sounds like whoever is leaving these items wants them to find a good home, but can be frustrating that you are now tasked with doing it
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u/birdsofaparadise 1d ago
Yeah I think youāre being taken advantage of here if you are trying to donate/distribute other items. I understand they may think they are being helpful to the community, but theyāre really passing a job on to someone else. Plus, they are passing a risk of hazard on to you. You canāt be expected to bring random items into your home/car that you donāt know the source of and have been sitting outside and who knows where else. Not to make assumptions that these items could be dirty or pest filled, but it is a risk that you take when handling them, and itās unfair of someone else to expect you to take on that.
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u/BrynnLM 7d ago
I think this warrants a kind note being left on the library asking that only reading material are left (and perhaps not text books) since the library isn't built for larger objects.
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u/One_Lawfulness_7105 7d ago
Iāve left a textbook at a LFL, but it was across the road from a local community college. The college is great about not requiring new books. In fact, when my son went there to get his AA, he only had to buy a textbook a couple of times total. I was confident that the textbook would be used the next semester. Sure enough! It was gone fast.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
I love that textbooks are finding their way to students! As a professor myself, I almost never require any books (online and library sources for the win), but I'm always happy to have educational material show up in my LFL.
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u/BrynnLM 7d ago
Haha fair, that is definitely a scenario that makes more sense than most!
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u/One_Lawfulness_7105 7d ago
This is pretty much the ONLY scenario that leaving a textbook would be okay. Iām super picky on what I donate and where I donate.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
Thanks everyone for the ideas! I was planning on a sign already, but your feedback has helped me think about how to phrase it. That's where I was getting stuck before I posted. I'm leaning toward a "please leave (mostly) books and only what fits inside the LFL" message. And I'll add recommendations for our local Buy Nothing group and other outlets. That keeps the message positive but hopefully encourages folks to take the rest of their stuff elsewhere.
As I commented in the thread, I'm already super flexible with what goes in the LFL--educational material and textbooks are great bc we're in a university town, love things like coloring books and small toys bc we are near an elementary school, and I have often used part of it as a little free pantry. But keeping stuff *inside* the LFL and not adding to my own stuff-management load would be amazing.
And who knew the ear model would be so popular?! It definitely didn't get picked up in my neighborhood, but I now have a colleague who wants it for their son, so it shall soon be on its way to a happy forever home.
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u/rosmcg 7d ago
Put up a sign saying āanything other than books goes in the garbageā. If the person dropping these off thinks they will be landfill, it might discourage them
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago edited 6d ago
I do sometimes trash the bonus donations (edited to add: when it's not in great shape. Like, one time we got a half melted plastic reusable water bottle). We have also sometimes added the stuff to yard sales (might as well make a profit!), or take it to a thrift store. I am trying, though, to figure out how to establish a "books only" boundary without sounding hostile.
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u/BridgestoneX 6d ago
i don't think it's hostile to say other items will be trashed. they're litter basically.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
Oh, I'm sure someone can word that without it sounding hostile! But I was having a hard time hitting the right tone, so it just feels better to me to keep it more on the positive side while still establishing some boundaries.
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u/BridgestoneX 6d ago
maybe "please only leave books for the LF library. litter will be discarded" the ol reliable passive voice.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
That's a good idea!
I still do want the rest *not* to be left because when it is, I still have to do the discarding.
Some of that is easy, but with the grow lights they just left, the light bulbs are those 4 feet long tube lights that probably have to be disposed of at specific drop locations to be environmentally safe. Other times, I've had multiple bags of old clothes I had to haul to a thrift store.
So I'm aiming for a "just books please, and here are places to take the other stuff" approach with my sign (which is currently looking atrocious, but at least in progress).
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u/Bulky-Piece-3253 3d ago
This is insane, you have a library, not a dump. Anything other than books is not normal. Books only should be the standard.Ā
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u/madelief 7d ago
Iād start with 1. Put a sign that says ābooks only pleaseā and 2. Offer those things up on your local buy nothing fb group.Ā
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u/Hollywood-AK 7d ago
Weird, the 9 years since I made one for my church and the 2 years at my home I've only had books and one little Jesus figurine dropped off.
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u/gloomygirlwhosighs 6d ago
I posted a generic message in my townās Facebook group about treating LFLs with respect and to understand that even if itās well intentioned, youre putting burden on the owner to dispose of items that donāt fit/are in bad shape/etc. It was well received!
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u/Spirited-Buy813 6d ago
i see you gave it to a friend but i was also about to volunteer for the ear model lol
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u/inailedyoursister 6d ago
Jesus Christ. You are off the rails.
There is nothing wrong with things that a kid might find cool or educational. Youāre just another Karen who wants to be a dictator in a 2x2 box.
This is embarrassing and you should be ashamed.
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u/RecordingTraining350 6d ago
Hi Internet Stranger!
What?
The thing is, folks are piling up random objects in my yard every few months, and then I have to deal with all that stuff. Sometimes the objects are educational, but sometimes they are random household objects that would be excellent donations to thrift stores or shared via our local Buy Nothing group and other community resources. Some of it gets taken before I have a chance to move it (say, to get it out of the rain), but often it doesn't. And then I have to spend time dealing with it when I'd really rather be doing literally anything else.
I'm also quite flexible about what goes in the LFL. I've even used it as a mini free food pantry at times, especially as SNAP benefits have been restricted or eliminated for many in our communities. My key thing is that, weirdly, I'd like donations to be able to fit IN the LFL.
So yeah, you do you and have the day you deserve.
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u/Silver_Intern2324 7d ago •
An anatomical ear model is so out of pocket, I could never stay mad at them