Thanks gentlemen. The digitizing idea was approved, and it's up to me to find the least expensive way to get it done. I want to make the books (aircraft maintenance manuals, no longer under copyright) available to the public.
So far, least expensive is a library consortium with a scanning center in Arizona. They're actually free - but I have to get the books to them. Shipping via USPS would be around $15K - out of my budget. But renting a 26 foot box truck one-way would be around $2500, per UHaul.
The Arizona service scans and then shelves/files the books locally, then posts them on their public research website; I no longer have space for them, so returning the books (and the truck) isn't the issue. Flying home is cheaper!
There are several other digitizing services closer to me (Boston, NYC, Phila., Washington DC, etc.). But the cheapest one is $3/book plus 12 cents per page. For the amount of books I've got, that would be around $150,000 - plus shipping. No can do.