Genizah of Accessories of Holy Books
Sefarim (holy books) that are no longer usable may not be thrown in the garbage, but have to be placed in genizah (a repository for holy books, where they are stored until they are buried). This halachah applies to some accessories of sefarim as well: the hard cover of a sefer, its binding, and blank pages have to be placed in a genizah, as does a book jacket designed to beautify the sefer. However, the following items do not have to be placed in genizah, and may be discarded: a book jacket whose sole function was to protect the hard cover, as well as a plain cardboard sleeve that held a set of seforim for the initial packaging. These items may even be thrown in with the regular garbage, but only if it’s unrecognizable that they once belonged on a sefer. An enhanced cardboard box designed for long-term storage should not be thrown in the garbage, since it’s noticeable that it once belonged to the set of sefarim. A bookmark used in a sefer may be thrown in the garbage since its function was to benefit the reader, and not for the benefit of the sefer; stickers on a sefer, such as those commonly found on library books, may also be thrown in the garbage. #3341
כ״ז פשוט וא״צ לפנים. וראה גם בכ״ז בהנסמן בס׳ גנזי הקודש פ״ח ס״י ואילך. ואכ״מ בפרטיות יותר.