13 Ways To Repurpose Old Books Without Throwing Them Away

We all have our favorite books that we can read repeatedly and will always stay on our bookshelf at home. Some books, however, as enthralling as they may be, you need to get rid of to free up space in your home. But before you dump masterpieces and best sellers in the recycling bin, consider ways to give your old books a new life.

Instead of throwing your books away or recycling them, consider donating them to a charity, or bringing them to the library. You can find a book swap to trade books you’ve read for new ones. If you’re crafty, you can make holiday decorations, scrapbooks, and even decorate a wall with book pages. Decorate a lampshade in your reading nook with book pages or use large pages as gift wrap.

As much as you may want to hang on to all the books you’ve read and loved, there simply isn’t enough space in most homes for a vast library. If you have a box of books that you are ready to discard, read this article before you put those books on the curb. Below you’ll find a diverse list of ways you can give your old books a new beginning.

13 Ways You Can Give Old Books A New Life

1. Donate Them To Charity

One of the best ways to upcycle your old books is to donate them to a charity of your choice. There are dozens of charities you can choose from, as many charitable organizations are looking to improve their libraries.

If you want to keep things simple, you can drop them off with your clothing donations at Goodwill, Salvation Army, or a similar charity. If you want to make sure your books get a good home, dig deeper and find a specific charitable home for your books.

2. Ask The Library If They Want Them

If you have books that are in great shape and are current or popular titles, then see if the library wants them. Many libraries will take used books as long as they are in good physical condition.

Before bringing the books to the library, make sure you inspect each one. Libraries usually won’t take books with writing in them, torn pages, or water damage. 

Even if your library won’t put them on the shelf, they may still accept them. Some libraries have small used bookstores inside, and the proceeds often go directly back to improving library services.

3. Decorate A Room With Book Pages

If you have a library, reading nook, or a kid’s room in your home, consider decorating a wall with some book pages. The best way to decorate a room with book pages is to select the pages you want, remove them carefully from the book, and paste them onto a thin board. 

The board can be as large as the wall, or the size of a poster. Naturally, you will want to choose the pages carefully to ensure this DIY wallpaper looks as professional and interesting as possible.

4. Use Decorative Pages To Wrap Gifts

If you are looking for a fun alternative to wrapping paper, try using pages from an old book. You can use large books to make it easy or tape four pages together to make a large sheet big enough to wrap most gifts.

If you are giving a gift to a child, use pages from a kid’s book. If it is a romantic gift, opt for pages from a book of poetry if you have one.

5. DIY Paper Lantern

If you have a bunch of old books and are looking for a fun craft project for you and the family, try making paper lanterns with book pages. Paper lanterns are very popular in several Asian countries, making this a great project to take on close to the Lunar New Year.

You can make your lanterns as elaborate as you’d like, or simply make a rectangular lantern using book pages, glue, and wooden sticks to assemble them.

6. Use Old Hardcover Books As Scrapbooks

If you have been meaning to start a scrapbook or want a place to paste mementos from a recent trip, then why not use an old book? If you have a nice-looking hardcover book, you can transform it into a one-of-a-kind scrapbook. 

Simply glue pages together to make the paper thicker, and then apply whatever ticket stubs, stickers, photos, and other mementos you’d like. This is a great way to remember good times while giving a book a new life.

7. Go To A Book Swap

If you are getting rid of your books because you’ve read them all, then head over to a book swap to trade old books for ones you haven’t read yet. Book swaps are places where you can trade books you don’t want for books you do want.

Often it’s a one-for-one trade, so bring a full box to stock up on a bunch of new titles. You can often find book swaps when you travel as well. Laundromats, hotel recreation rooms, and even libraries are just a few places that have “leave one, take one” bookshelves.

8. Make A Table Runner For Book Club

If a book club is the reason your house is always overflowing with books, then use some old books as decor the next time you host the club. You can make a table runner by attaching pages of books in a horizontal fashion. A DIY table runner, combined with other touches like stacked books to give your buffet plates some height, will certainly wow your guests.

9. Gift A Book To A Friend 

One easy way to offload some old books without throwing them away is to give them to a friend or family member. If you read a book and it reminds you of someone, don’t hesitate to send it to them.

Remember you can send books by media mail through USPS, which is a much cheaper rate than standard shipping. This means you can even send these books to your friends in faraway places.

10. Decorate Your Favorite Reading Lamp 

Another fun way to use old books as decoration is to cover an old lampshade with book pages. You can paste the pages to the lamp as is, or cut them into interesting geometric shapes to give a bit of enhanced design to this DIY lampshade makeover. 

11. Make A Secret Storage Container 

If you need a place to hide a key, or something small yet important, then why not go old school and hide it in a book? Cutting holes into the pages of a book and hiding small treasures inside isn’t just a thing of detective novels, it’s actually a very reasonable way to hide small objects. Just make sure you remember which book you stash your secret valuables in.

12. Stack Larger Books To Make An End Table

If you need some elevation for a lamp or vase, use some large old hardcover books. You may not want to read these old books again or even have them on a bookshelf, but they can look lovely stacked neatly. This is a great and free way to build a makeshift end table.

13. Make Festive Decorations Or A Wreath

Lastly, if you feel like getting festive with your old books, why not make some fun decorations? You can make a creative wreath by folding book pages and arranging them in different ways to give volume and texture. 

You can also cut pages and make Christmas ornaments or garlands. This is a fun theme for anyone who has a family member in academia.

Wrapping Up Different Ways To Upcycle Your Old Books

If you have a box of old books and aren’t sure what to do with them, don’t throw them away. There are tons of ways to repurpose old books, including donating them to charity or bringing them to a book swap to get different books. You can make scrapbooks, decorate walls and lampshades, or even make holiday decorations with old books. When in doubt, give a good book to a dear friend.

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