The Development Authority of the North Country and the North Country Library System (NCLS) have teamed up to provide member libraries in St. Lawrence County a way to recycle hardcover books that are no longer useable and have been taken out of circulation.

While softcover books can be recycled with paper, hardcover books must be disposed of as trash, which means they go into the landfill. Libraries exhaust several other options for reusing books before recycling.

As part of its commitment to find waste diversion solutions, the Development Authority purchased a book debinding machine that allows the binding to be removed from hardcover books so that the pages can be recycled as paper.

“We are always seeking opportunities to provide additional avenues for recycling,” said Development Authority Executive Director James W. Wright. “This helps us improve and increase the amount of paper we can recycle and keeps a lot of bulk out of the landfill.”

Books will be picked up from member libraries as part of the NCLS interlibrary loan system, and taken to the Development Authority for debinding.

“It’s important for our libraries to dispose of books that contain outdated information or don’t circulate anymore, in order to make room for new titles,” said NCLS Executive Director Susan Mitchell. “Reuse is always our first choice and books sales will still take place at libraries that hold them, in addition to donating them to several other organizations; disposal is a last resort but an important option to make sure libraries have the space to keep their collections updated and relevant, and to ensure that we are not offering outdated information to our patrons.”

NCLS will be working with its member libraries to arrange pick up dates and logistics. For more information on recycling, see the Development Authority’s updated website: www.northcountryrecycles.org.

For a list pf member libraries including those in St. Lawrence County, visit https://web.ncls.org/library-listing.