Back to School – Clear the Clutter
By Lynn Greenberg
What to do with your extra yearbooks from the past?
Have you ever opened a supply closet, you know, that catch-all space where things that no one knows what to do with and no one wants to claim, to find 1400 yearbooks from the last 30 years hidden in boxes behind all the other stuff? I did just this week! This discovery prompted me to look into what to do with all these yearbooks! Maybe you have been wondering the same thing, but hopefully not for 1400 yearbooks! What do you do with unclaimed, leftover, forgotten yearbooks? I have a few ideas…
Of course, my first thought was to recycle them, but then I started researching what other options were out there and found some other important, fun and creative ideas:
What to do with your extra yearbooks from the past?
Have you ever opened a supply closet, you know, that catch-all space where things that no one knows what to do with and no one wants to claim, to find 1400 yearbooks from the last 30 years hidden in boxes behind all the other stuff? I did just this week! This discovery prompted me to look into what to do with all these yearbooks! Maybe you have been wondering the same thing, but hopefully not for 1400 yearbooks! What do you do with unclaimed, leftover, forgotten yearbooks? I have a few ideas…
Of course, my first thought was to recycle them, but then I started researching what other options were out there and found some other important, fun and creative ideas:
Find out if your school and local libraries have a copy of each of the yearbooks. Even check with the historical society. These books are a record of the school and community’s history!
Does the Yearbook Advisor, Class, or club have a copy of every year’s yearbook? They are great for the history and evolution of making yearbooks, styles, trends, and even fonts! They are also a great source of inspiration!
Are there records to get the purchased-but-forgot-to-pick-up-the-book yearbooks to the purchaser? We even found personalized books that were not picked up, making it easy to get it to the owner!
Donate them to community or senior centers who might like to look at them or use them for arts and crafts!
Check with the Alumni Association/Reunion committees or Facebook group for upcoming reunions to see if they want them for a display at the reunion.
Fundraiser idea – I read about one school that made those old books work for raising money for the yearbook by selling those old copies to alumni who wanted to replace an old yearbook that was lost, misplaced, or damaged or purchase it for the first time because they didn’t get one while they were in HS.
As a yearbook advisor, you become the keeper of these books, and making sure they find their place in the school and community’s history, even in an individual’s history, is part of the job, even if it’s from the past or before your time as the yearbook advisor, but it’s also what you are leaving for the future students, community, and yearbook advisor. Don’t leave it to the next advisor to clean out one of these hidden troves of long-forgotten books; take steps now to eliminate all those extra yearbooks and reclaim the space!
Did you enjoy this blog? Well there’s more with that came from, discover Yearbook Groupie! A collaborative forum and blog site for yearbook advisors.