I was recently in the Oxfam Bookshop at the top of Guildford High Street.

 http://www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/gu-ford.htm

The staff were stripping novels off the shelves, on the floor were half a dozen large plastic sacks full of books.

Suspecting what was happening, I asked. The staff confirmed my worst fears, the books were being trashed, 'recycling' they called it. I was told recycling was good, that the books had been on the shelves for a couple of months and they'd been unable to sell them.

These were not falling apart, moth-eaten old books where the only realistic option was recycling. These were contemporary novels given to Oxfam in good faith, albeit some were a little dog-eared, scuffed, with creased and broken spines.

The reason Oxfam was not able to sell these books, was sheer unadulterated greed. They were asking £2-50 for novels that were often dog-eared, with creased and broken spines.

The same novels could be had for little more, brand new, in pristine condition, from a discount bookshop a few minutes walk further down Guildford High Street. In Asda, two for £7.

These were books that people had donated to Oxfam in good faith, in the hope that they'd find a new home, give other people some pleasure, and raise some money to help Third World poor.

Instead Oxfam destroyed perfectly good books.

There was a lot Oxfam could have done with these books.

They could have reduced the books to 50 pence or a pound. But then that would only have served to highlight how greedy they were being in the first place.

They could have put the books outside the shop with a help yourself sign.

They could have given the books to a local school or hospital.

They could have passed them on to another charity shop.

A few minutes walk down the High Street in Jeffries Passage, is a Save the Children charity shop. They can never get enough books.

They could could have given them to Guildford College, who would have used the books to fund raise for a project in Tanzania.

Once a year, a church at the bottom of the High Street has a massive book sale for Feed the Minds. They would have been only too grateful for the books.

Two weeks later, I looked in the Oxfam Bookshop. Painted in large letters across the window We Need Books, the shelves were looking bare, large gaps, from where the books were stripped. I was told they needed books as they were now short of books!

A week later, I looked in the shop again. At the back of the shop were about a dozen or more sacks full of books. They were now going through the same exercise with their non-fiction books.

I walked out of the shop in disgust, but not before noticing £2-50 for a dog-eared copy of The Alchemist, £2-50 for a dog-eared copy of By the Flowing River. Two excellent books by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.

A couple of days later I picked up a copy of The Alchemist in as new condition for £1 from a local charity shop.

 http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6024947

At the weekend I picked up The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, large format (50p) and A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (95p). Both books in excellent as new condition.

 http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6024924
 http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6024918

Yesterday I picked up in pristine as new condition for 69p the excellent The Shadow of the Wind by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

 http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6027749

I have spoken to many people about the Oxfam Bookshop scandal, and without exception they are appalled and disgusted. At the high asking price for the books, and that books that people have donated in good faith are then being destroyed.

I have had the same reaction from charity shops.

Locally, charity shops are selling books for around 50p to a pound, sometime a little more if they are in pristine condition. Their main problem is they cannot get enough books.

RSPCA shop (paperbacks 50p, hardbacks £1) told me they could not get enough books, the books go as soon as they get them in.

Parity put the books by the door at 10p to get rid of them if they have not sold.

Sailor Boy has a periodic half price book sale if they are overstocked.

Red Cross shop told me they can not get enough books. They thought it sacrilege that books were being destroyed. If the are overstocked, they have a book sale.

Last week, I had an e-mail from Oxfam asking that instead of landfill, could they please have any unwanted items!

I have bagged up, books and clothes. Oxfam will be the one place I will not be taking them.

The Oxfam action is a no win for everyone. Oxfam gets a bad name, money is not raised for worthy causes, books are destroyed, someone is deprived of a good read.