What will you do with your book collection?

A significant number of my older books and magazines are cancelled ex-library copies, so choose the beneficiary library carefully or they will end up in the used book market eventually anyway.

I would like to keep my collection intact so a museum archive would be preferable.

My collection of several hundred books will go to the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum at Headcorn Kent.

Trevor

www.lashendenairwarfaremuseum.co.uk

I hope my son will take over my collection. I would rather see him sell things than give to a museum. I have given to museums in the past only for the items to disapear. I also have seen archivist’s get rid of things they dont like and when museum policies change due to new management. I have found its better to sell, at least the person who pays money for the item should look after it. I never use to think this way but have learnt a few things over the last 15 years.

Dave

Good point Dave, and what exactly do museums do with book collections, I’ve never seen mention of access to this material?

I will burn all of mine to keep warm if I make it to 90 or what ever the pensionable age will be by the time I get there! As no doubt I will not have enough money left to keep warm, as there wont be any pensions available (unless I become a ‘dis’-honourable MP :dev2: )

I’ve already made provision in my will for my books, magazines and document archive to go to a museum even though their current cramped accomodation means they’ve not got the room for them -yet.
However if my numbers come up on the lottery I’ll pay for a new building and move the stuff as soon as possible, if only to be able to see the stair carpet for the first time in years.

Interesting question.

Originally I had planned on leaving my book collection to a friend who has a similar interest in aircraft, and would enjoy my collection as much as I do. After all I have invested considerable financial and emotional energy into my collection.

As the years progress though I think I am becoming more comfortable with my collection being disposed of, either by my executors or via a second hand book sale at the local airplane museum.

There’s a time for letting go of everything.

Good point Dave, and what exactly do museums do with book collections, I’ve never seen mention of access to this material?

NAM’s proposed new Visitor Centre will hopefully have a supervised Archive reading / viewing area as part of the ‘widening accessibility’ remit.

I’m taking mine with me. I’ll need something to read when I get up there (says he, hopefully). The technical ones will be particularly important. Without them, how am I going to make the necessary modifications to the aspect ratio of my wings – and I’m definitely going to add flaps. I’ve heard tell that they’ve been using the same basic design for over 2000 years! I can’t be doing with a slow rate of climb and a propensity to drop a wing in the turn. But don’t ask me where I’m going to stick the rudder. I only hope that I don’t need to refer to those books dealing with take offs from hot and low locations!

Disposal

Most of the stuff worth a few bob will go to the missus/family for them to sell, the rest (and there’s lots) will go to friends who might appreciate and use them.

That goes for the aircraft and spares as well as the books/manuals.

Anon.

build a pyramid and stack them in there with me so I have something to read!:rolleyes:

I think this a very pertinent point.
Over the years , I have experienced acute and helpless discomfort in watching the way families have disposed of seriously significant individual archives. Ignorance, theft, greed and bonfires at the bottom of the garden have taken toll of many collections of material of historical value.
In my case I have already donated my and , more significantly, my late father’s unique and rare material ( Blue prints , Tech docs, manuals and photos) to two formal U.K. collections. One of these, at least, has already properly catalogued and accommodated the material delivered into their safekeeping.
I’ve kept most of my widely published books ( Putnams , Harboroughs, Macdonalds etc. plus mags) as with the additional use of the Internet these suffice to keep me with plenty to reread and to assist with small scale modelling projects.
When these are thrown on the fire in a few years time, there will then be no great loss to the wider community.

I posted a thread like this a while ago, when my Dad died (train fan) we had some problems selling his stuff via the WWW so we could pass the money we raised onto the hospice that gace him such great care in his last few weeks.

My will donates books and die-cast models (far too many) to the Midland Air Museum in the UK, I went there a while ago and the helpers there were simply fantastic opening up cockpits, re-opening the Vulcan just for my son and I.

I wanted them to go somewhere that may well sell them on, but would raise money for something that I support.

I’ve already started to get rid of my rather small collection, well less the parts thats in my loft, in the spare room and under the stairs, in my parents garage and loft.
Only cos the kids said if anything happen to me it would all be going to the skip.

Paul

What is the best place for selling aviation books? I’ve got a loft full and a mortgage that rivals the national debt.

Rgds Cking

Cking
I’ll probably get flak for saying this but eBay is as good a place as any. So long as you give a full description of the book and its condition, and set your minimum price at a realistic level you should be able to sell them. I’ve bought many this way over the years. Another alternative is via Abebooks or Amazon, although their cut is a bit high in my opinion. The missus regularly sells her surplus text books on Amazon.

Cheers

One day, with any luck, I’ll get a chance to read mine.

DS

Donating to museums is very laudable but looking at it from the other side are the museums able to accept such donations?

Have people taken the time to notify the museum and advise them of their intentions?

I know at NAM that a lack of appropriate storage space means that not all ‘donations’ can be automatically accepted. When they are accepted, it is often on the basis that items {books, kits, collectables etc} that duplicate anything already held in the collection can be sold to raise funds for the museum, with the item that’s in a better condition being the one that’s retained.

Moving back to the opening point about notifying a museum of your intentions, this can lead to some interesting situations and commitments arising; e.g. as a result of such ‘notifications’ I am now the nominated Executor of two Wills!

Like many things in life, the principles involved seem very straightforward but the consequences can be very wide ranging.

Footnote added @ 11.35:

Currently the NAM Archive has circa 4,500 catalogued books; circa 970 catalogued APs; and a diverse collection of magazine sets.

Reading this thread makes me sad that I disposed of much of what I had in various moves. But the question of leaving it to family is fraught with difficulties, when they may be uninterested and regard the bequest as a liability. Twin Otter makes an interesting point about museum donations, which had not occurred to me. And there is too the problem of duplication – many private collections will be part duplicated, and there will be far fewer unique and/or highly collectable items.

I wish you all luck in finding good homes for your collections.

This is unfortunately the position I’m in at the moment…

My father died unexpectedly last year and I’m having to go through all his various collections…

Coming from a sea faring family my father was obsessed with ships… especially clyde puffers (he was an acknowledged expert…) so i have vast amounts of shipping books and family memorabilia to go through.. he was an artist, so i have a studio full of paintings and materials… a map maker so there is a collection of maps from the 19th century onwards to go through… and a photographer so there are 60 years of photographs and cameras as well…

He was also spectacularly untidy so I’m having to sift through vast amounts of s**t…!

What do you do…? I’ve found amazing things and heartbreaking things… Id actually like the maritime stuff to have a wider ordinance… especially the war office stuff from the first world war!

All suggestions gratefully received…!

Zeb