What to do with paper savings bonds (EE)?

In the old days you would have had the option to convert them to HH's. Apparently that's over. I would definitely redeem those over 30 years old. Currently the EE's issued between 5/95 and 4/97 yield 3.22%. the EE's issued between 5/97 and 4/05 yield 3.41%.

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Everything I’ve read says I just take them to a bank (doesn’t have to be my own) and they’ll give me cash for them.

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If you don't have an account. Most banks won't cash them due to having to report the interest and send you a 1099 form. Not worth the hassle.

I always deposit them immediately at my bank. I would ask them to write me a cashier's check or if I could ACH transfer the money. If they won't do either of those I'd ask them what my options are besides taking cash. I hope this helps.

Assuming these are bearer bonds, I’d put them into some sort of reinforced closet and wait for Dwight yoakam and Forrest Whitaker

You could open an account at Treasury Direct and then convert them into an electronic account:

treasurydirect.gov

You have to physically mail/ship the bonds to the U.S Treasury and then they convert them. Once they're converted you can cash out any bonds you want and transfer the funds directly to your bank account.

Also, if you can't find a bank to cash them, you can cash them out directly from the Treasury: Form 1522

Depends on the amounts as well. Had a large bond my dad bought in 92. Only option was to mail in to get cashed and they direct deposited funds in my bank. Local banks wouldn’t touch it.

Obviously redeem the bonds that have stopped accruing interest then you need to decide if you want to redeem any others that haven't reached maturity yet.

Personally I'd hold on to all EE bonds until they at least reach their 20 year anniversary of their issuance. On that date, the treasury should make a one time payment for the bond to reach face value (double purchase price) regardless of the amount of interest already built up over the previous 2 decades. This can sometimes be a substantial increase in value for bonds that had lower interest rates and accruals.

Employing this strategy, you could ladder out your redemptions to provide an income stream across multiple years and potentially minimize negative tax implications.