The board of the Friends of the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library has reluctantly voted to try and limit the volume of donations.

Space constraints force the Friends to request that donations include only gently used books, DVDs, CDs and that all items be in “sell-able” condition. The bookstore cannot store, display or sell old textbooks, dictionaries, or torn, soiled or musty books, all of which need to go to the dump.

Pre-2005 travel guides, atlases or textbooks are also too space consuming and no one has purchased an encyclopedia in years. With a heavy heart, these must also be consigned to the dump.

There are a number of organizations online, such as DowntownDonations.com, which purport to accept, even collect books. If you have a collection you feel is worthwhile, please check the Internet for one of these organizations. In the meantime, come to the bookstore and buy, buy, buy, to free up space for more donations to come.