'Got Books?' Recycling Program Comes To Granby

If your bookshelves are bursting with old paperbacks and your drawers are filled with outdated CDs, consider recycling them at the Granby Transfer Station.

The Granby Public Works Department has teamed up with the Massachusetts-based organization Got Books Inc., which collects the books to either sell, recycle or donate, in an effort to keep them from the landfills.

Granby residents can drop off new or used books, CDs, DVDs, records and audio books during the transfer station’s normal hours, on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

“Residents can come in any Saturday and drop off their books or their DVDs or CDs,” said Recycling Coordinator Sally L. Crapser. 

Items not accepted are encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers and catalogs, according to the Got Books Website. 

Crapser said she had heard of the program a number of years ago, but did not go forward when there was a fee associated with the service. 

“Now, they are expanding into more towns in Connecticut and it’s becoming more cost effective for them to come to this state,” she said. “They are expanding, which is great.”

Depending on the weight, Crapser said the town will receive a small amount of money, which will go back into recycling efforts for the town. 

When the recycling containers are full, Got Books collects the donations and takes them back to their warehouse, where they are hand sorted. Books are either sold online or at one of the company’s used books stores, or recycled if they can’t be used.

Through different initiatives, some books will travel overseas to U.S. military members.  Others will be given to teachers to be used in their classrooms, or given away to establishments such as libraries and schools, according to their Web site. 

No matter the condition, Got Books claims that donated items will never end up in the dump. 

Got Books has raised more than $1 million for non-profits and kept over 28.6 million books from the landfill since 2007, according to their Web site. 

Crapser said she encourages residents to save some of their better books for library fund-raisers in town, as opposed to donating them in the Got Books container. 

“I would encourage residents to save the better books for the sales, and any other ones they can certainly recycle,” she said. 

The container will remain at the station indefinitely, Crapser said, as long as it doesn’t cost the town money. She said the effort also helps the town save money by keeping the weight of the donated items out of the waste stream. 

“Our hauling and tipping fees are very expensive,” she said. “The more we can keep out of the trash the better.”

Questions on donations can be directed to the Public Works Department at 860-653-8960.