The University of Toronto has a 'cull and sell' procedure and culled books are placed in the weekly Wednesday noon swap shop where anyone can buy all they can c

The University of Toronto has a 'cull and sell' procedure and culled books are placed in the weekly Wednesday noon swap shop where anyone can buy all they can carry for a $1 donation. At the last swap for the season in May there were 15 large wheeled boxes of about 1 cubic yard each filled to the brim and another 20 trash totes a little bigger in the yard. Few sell. There is a steady crowd of people picking at them. I suspect their fate is pulp after they have been well picked. There used to be huge numbers of old computers etc. in the swap shop, but after a number of people cut themselves on sharp steel edges, they now accumulate and allow department employees only to scan and fill out a card so their department gets the asset if it has any enduring value - if not taken = scrapped by a recycling company approved for proper recycling of computers etc. Another complication was the development of the sulfite pulping process in the 1800's. This leaves residues of SO2 in the paper, which combined with H2O makes H2SO3 - sulfurous acid. This is a weak acid, but in time it cuts up cellulose and the paper is weakened and friable - eventually it turns to dust. Old linen paper or paper that has been washed and treated/sized to eliminate the SO2 (archival paper) can last a lot longer