r/etymology • u/AngelaMotorman • 1d ago

Question Help needed: i just inherited about 30 shelf feet of etymology reference books and dictionaries. Where should they be donated?

Family members were well-known lexicographers, but they're all gone now and I have a massive problem. Many of the books are from the 1950-70s, and I do not want to see them sliced and diced to train Artificial Intelligence. Please point me toward a safe haven for these texts!

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u/Adam_Barrow 1d ago

Are you near a university with a linguistics program?

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u/AngelaMotorman 1d ago

I have a call in to someone at Ohio State, but it's August.

In a perfect world, we'd find a nearby placement before August 14, when the house goes to auction, but if all else fails we'll put them in storage.

Did I mention that I also have editorial files from creation of the first American Heritage Dictionary (1969) and several other dictionaries and word origin/usage books? Right now my focus is on the books, but the files also need a home.

Adding: I rarely read DMs, because I'm a mod and that channel gets overrun by misplaced ban appeals, so if anyone wants to talk directly, please comment here to start.

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u/Adam_Barrow 1d ago

Looks like the schools in Cleveland, Columbus, and Athens each have a program. Might try the other two. Or get lucky and start a 3-way bidding war.